Thankful

Thankful.

I should be this way all year round... yet somehow life, worries, stress... those things seem to cloud out all of my blessings.

It's easy to focus on the negative.  It's easy to lose sight of just how blessed and fortunate I am.  To focus on the have-nots instead of the haves.

I have a family who loves me.  I have friends I can count on.  I have a body that is strong and healthy.  I have a job that pays the bills and allows me to also have small luxuries in life.  I have more than enough to eat.  Compared to the majority of the world, I am rich.

And although this year the holidays are proving to be lonely, I still have so much to be thankful for.  And I'm going to focus on those things as best I can.  Sadly, we only seem to take time out during the month of November to really focus on what we have to be grateful for.  And even then... we are immediately weighed down by materialism and commercialism.

I begin this holiday season with a sense of hope, a sense of excitement for what is to come.  With the same sense of adventure I had this time a year ago... but a bit more settled in life, with a better sense of who I am.

I think most of all today I'm thankful for the opportunity to experience the past thirteen months.  To have traveled and lived in a new part of the country.  To see new places, new cities, new cultures, and meet all different kinds of people.  It occurred to me recently how lonely at times this life can be, when you take yourself away from all that is familiar.  The warmth of family and friends who have known you for your entire life.  But I still wouldn't trade this for the growth I have experienced this past year.  I feel I have grown more into who I am... and I know I'm not done yet.

Someday I hope to have that familiar warmth in my life again.  I hope to be able to have the chance for a family of my own... not a life that is perfect, no...but a life that is good and well-lived.  I'm happy for where my life is now, but I feel I am on the launching pad for the next phase...ready for what it brings.  I'm going to enjoy today for what it is... love those who are in my life right now, be grateful for where I am.