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What I’m Thankful For
By Administrator | November 24, 2006
Yesterday I mentioned that I came up with the best reason to be thankful. At dinner, my family traditionally gives thanks for something before we break into the meal, and I normally have quite a difficult time coming up with something. This year I was inspired and came up with a really good one: I’m thankful that I no longer look forward to the holidays.
I’ve been somewhat depressed that I don’t look forward to this time of year the way I did when I was a young adult and during my childhood. Part of the reason is that I spend almost all of Thanksgiving Day cooking a meal that takes us fifteen minutes to eat, Christmas has lost the magic and mystery of childhood, and New Year’s Day is just the start of another year that finds me fighting to meet the same resolution at which I’ve failed to meet every other year of my adult life.
What I failed to realize is that I no longer have the need to look forward to these holidays for another reason. While my childhood wasn’t entirely horrible, I do come from a disfunctional family that spent quite a lot of time screaming and fighting, with a little bit of hitting thrown in for good measure. I can’t say that my childhood was bad enough to warrant me writing a movie-of-the-week, but it wasn’t idyllic either, and I looked forward to the holidays as a time when everyone got along, when we all ate way too much, and when I got fun presents.
I no longer look forward to the holidays because my day-to-day life has gotten so much better. I have a wonderful husband who puts up with all my foibles and is way too patient with my quirks; my three young adult daughters don’t mind being around me and we all share similar interests and still enjoy spending time together; I’ve got good friends that I’ve met through my day jobs and volunteer work; and I just recently got a job that I adore. The only real problems right now are minor health issues and financial troubles; we’re working on the former and the latter can happen to anyone at any time, so I can’t really change those things. Life is very good, for the most part. I definitely can’t complain.
So I’m thankful that I no longer have to look forward to the holidays to be happy. Shouldn’t we all be that lucky?
Topics: Holiday Greetings |
