Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that always comes and goes faster than I expect. Unlike Christmas, which encourages at least a month-long build of anticipation and enthusiasm prior to Christmas Eve and, even better, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving doesn't get a lot of hype.

Let's face it, it comes fairly soon after Halloween. It isn't Hallmarks biggest card-seller. And a lot of the decor that's Thanksgiving-related fits nicely into a sort of general "It's fall! Hooray!" category. Sure, there are turkeys. Pilgrims and Indians. But I don't think I could name you any catchy songs about them. I don't see much of them on sidewalks or in shop windows.

I see carved pumpkins, witches, and ghosties.

Then I see Christmas trees, tinsel, and brightly colored lights.

Thanksgiving is vastly overlooked. It's a Thursday, and we eat a lot more than we should. And that's about it.

Which is a shame, seeing as how Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remind ourselves, and to be reminded, just how thankful we should be for everything that we've got, that we are, that we have been given.

Which is why I decided to post my list of 50 things I'm thankful for. To which I'd like to add one more.

51. I am thankful for the fact that I have so many blessings to easily fill a list of fifty. And to fill a list far longer. I had to make myself stop for fear of driving people away with a never-ending list of awesomeness.*

That being said, I hope everyone took at least a moment to sit down and really count their blessings. IT may not be, "I'm thankful for my new Ferrari," but just as important are the, "I'm thankful for the socks on my feet so they aren't so cold," or the, "I'm thankful for that one picture that always makes me smile." Thanksgiving doesn't have to be about giving thanks for all the big, awesome, amazing, and totally fortunate things in your life—though it can be. But it can just as easily be about all of the little things that make our lives so much easier. Things we often forget completely because—and maybe I'm not speaking for you, but I'm definitely speaking for myself—we've become so accustomed to some of those little things that they seem like a given. A fact of life, rather than something fortuitous.

But the fact of the matter is, those little things could be gone in an instant. They leave us just as easily as they come. It's important to remember that, and to not grow so comfortable that we forget what a luxury comfort really is.

*I'm totally using #24 on my list!