Let’s not be turkeys this Thanksgiving.
Let’s not start fights with the relatives while we’re together for the weekend.
Don’t let it matter that someone voted for Obama, or is backing Newt.
Let it ride that somebody’s a Dallas Cowboys fan (that’s work for me) or passionate about defending Penn State (it’s a great school, with a great history).
Accept the fact that Aunt [whoever] will always bring the thing you absolutely hate to eat. Put a teaspoonful on your plate, and suck it up. Or hide it under some mashed potatoes.
Surrender to the idea that, at Thanksgiving, we are brought together to be thankful.
Here’s my list:
- My family, who I love to death (even if sometimes one or the other of you will get on my last nerve)
- My friends, who are from all points of the globe and give me hope that I’ll visit each and every one of you (promise? threat? you decide.)
- My customers, who have kept me afloat in some really interesting-in-the-Chinese-curse-way times (divorce + cancer = challenging fiscal cocktail. Trust me on that one.)
- My healthcare team, who kept (and keep) me firmly planted on the planet (they all help me find the funny)
A short list, but it’s got some serious meat on its gratitude-fueled bones.
What are you grateful for this year?
Be grateful for too much turkey, if you’ve got that. Be grateful for annoying family, because it means you’re not alone. Be grateful for living in a free country, if you do – if you don’t, you can earn the undying gratitude of your community by driving an Arab Spring within your borders.
Be grateful that you’re alive. I have studied history, and the human race is at a point where we can learn to link together in a true global village, and make life vibrant and rewarding for each and every one of us.
Let’s get to work.
Thanks.
