Happy Thanksgiving

This seems to be a holiday that I haven’t always put too much thought into in my last 34 years. And I feel a little guilty about that because I am thankful for so many things and much more, so many people. So, here it goes.

First and foremost most, I am thankful for the people that answer my phone calls, I’m thankful for the people that hold their word, I’m thankful for the people that have pushed me to become better. I am also very, very, very thankful for my family.

We can take that back all the way to my younger years. I think about my teachers who I loved and trusted that made me want to do better. I wanted to achieve things just so they would be proud of me.

I, like most other people on the planet, don’t remember my first steps or my first words…But I know I would have never achieved those monumental moments without the cheering of my family. Without their belief in me, I would have never taken that first step or said those first words.
It’s those things that I am most thankful for in life.

I recall being in the hospital after my accident and hearing the nurses tell my family I was going to have to wear high top shoes the rest of my life. I needed sweatpants and easy things to put on. I remember my friends telling me that teachers (who didn’t know better) told them I was going to be depressed and would need all their love and support.

Those nurses and teachers were wrong about a few things, but they were right when they said I needed support.

We all need support. We need support on our worst days and we also need support on what could seem to be our best days. It takes a village to raise a child. And we are children through God’s eyes. We never grow too old to relinquish the job of the village. We need it more than ever when we are born, we need it as we age, and we need it more than ever again as we get old.

I have had some of the best friends a girl could ask for. Some have been life long, some have been friends of mine for a decade or so, some have been for only a few years, or even a few months. Some have been by my side, some have been a phone call away, some have been via texting and countries apart. Friends are friends. They come, they go, but they always make a mark.

Family. Man! Family. Sometimes a lot of us take those people for granted. We battle over politics, we battle over beliefs, we get so busy living our lives we forget to call and check on each other. But I’m the end, family is all we have. They were our village to begin with, and they will most definitely be are village at the end. I’m thankful for mine. Even though I may not always tell them that, my family is my bedrock. They were my very first cheerleaders, the ones I needed to take flight.

Along my measly 34 years riding on this 3rd rock from the sun I’ve met a lot of people, I’ve seen a lot of things, I’ve had lots of experiences, and I’ve accomplished a lot of goals. None of that would have been capable without every. Single. Person. That I have intercepted my path with.

So, what am I thankful for? I’m thankful for my family, I’m thankful for doctors, I’m thankful for friends. I’m thankful for those who pushed me, I’m thankful for those who dated me, I’m thankful for those who left me, I’m thankful for those who are still willing to join me on my journey.

Would I be who I am today without the encouragement from others? Would I be who I am today without their belief in me? Would I be who I am today without the praise? And would I be the person I am today without the people who doubted me?

Nope.

We all experienced good things. We all experience bad things. We have to turn those bad things into good things and find ways to improve ourselves because of them.

So to me, this is a day to be thankful. It’s a day to be thankful for the ones that left me, the day to be thankful for the ones the doubted me, and the day to be thankful for the ones that loved me the day I took my first breath. The day to be thankful for the ones that have loved me and believed in me since the day we met. The day to be thankful for the people who have seen my mistakes, but didn’t judge. The day to be thankful for the people that know my faults and sins that I’m still working on, but again don’t leave, don’t judge, and keep pushing me from behind.

This is not just a day to be thankful for the family that surrounds you and the God that made you. We just give thanks to all those people and experiences that made us a bit more wise. Those experiences are the things that truly shape us.

To my family. I’m rude, I’m a smartass, I’m short, I’m uncaring at times. I love you more than everything. Even the family members I don’t talk to much. You made me believe in myself before I even knew what that meant.

To my friends. The old ones, the current ones, the ones who are current but I never talk to….I’m thankful to have had you in my life. Without a doubt, regardless to if you are here now, we speak, or we don’t, I think of you. And even when I don’t think of you, my dreams remind me of you!

Life is just simply too short. It’s too fragile. It’s too special. Don’t miss out on the beauty of this experience being mad about things that don’t even matter.

So be thankful.