To be thankful

It is so hard to be thankful when you live in a society that is bent on wanting you to believe that you aren't happy and therefore have nothing to be thankful about. We live in a place and time where so much information as at our fingertips and there is no way to access that information without being bombarded with this idea of "everybody else is happy, this is how... and the only way that you will be happy is if you have what they have".

To be honest with you I am amazed that there are not even more bankruptcies and divorces than there are. We are never content with what we have, who we have and who we are. We just keep buying into the "celebration" of Thanksgiving, but we have trouble buying into being thankful. Think about it. When was the last time you said "WOW!" in awe, and when was the last time you said "I wish".

I don't know, maybe I am the only one here that feels like this and I am the only one that has to work on it as well. Really? Am I that selfish and alone in this?

I really find the need, propelled by the season of course, to really work on an attitude of thanksgiving. When I am thankful I am way more happy than when I am not. I want to be thankful for every perfect gift from above. But even when we are thankful, do you see that we tend to compare ourselves with others? When I feel discontent with my house, for example, I can't seem to just be thankful for the gift that the Lord has lavished me with in my house and home, I seem to need to compare it to say, people in India that live in those dirt floor rooms, you know, we have all seen them on TV. Why can't I just close my eyes, take in what I have, not what anyone else has and just give THANKS? We are always looking to the left and to the right.

Just so you know, I ponder, I don't come to many conclusions in my life, I just do what I can. So know that I am thinking "out loud" and who knows, maybe some day I will read this and say "what was I thinking?" So perhaps it is just fine for me to be thankful that I have a roof over my head, my own bedroom and a down comforter that I LOVE specially since there are cold children all over the world as I write this. And even though my house isn't 2500 square feet I can still be thankful for what I have. And well, I may not have lots of space but my husband adores me and we are really super happy while there are millions of hurting marriages that are suffering and are tearing apart, women hurting, men hurting and children caught in the middle... See, that is easy to do.

I challenge you, and myself of course, this week to be thinking about what we are truly thankful for. Think outside the box. I think there might a difference between being thankful for what we have compared to others and having an attitude of thanksgiving. I know we don't live in a vacuum, but humor me and ponder with me. What are you thankful for? I could so chase a rabbit right now, because that is what I do. But I will refrain, or else I will be tempted to write a book. (I know, because that is what I want to do with every post). Anyway, here is my first thought. Random, but here goes.

When I'm feeling ugly, lonely, rejected, lost, unwanted, or just in a blah kind of mood, I lay in bed with my Mike, and he wraps his arms around me, squeezes me tight and I suddenly am beautiful, I am safe. I am in the presence of someone who loves me and wants me, I am no longer lost, but in the place I belong. THAT, is what I am thankful for.