I’m a very lucky guy. For the past half dozen years or so, I have written a weekly column for the CBA website and THAT means I get to write the column on the day before Thanksgiving – my favorite holiday.
Today I’m going to go a little outside the box. I have a great deal to be thankful for, and in previous years, I attempted to quantify and list those things, but that can get tedious for the reader, and maybe come off as smug. This is not a competition.
Bottom line – if you’re even a little happy with your life, you have a ton of things you can list for which you are thankful. Having good friends, family, a nice home – of course we’re thankful for these things. If you like your life and who you are, you’re thankful for that.
But how did you get to this place? If your life is happy, certainly some things have turned out in a way that is pleasing. But you’re not just the product of your lucky breaks and your triumphs. You’re also the result for all the dumb things you’ve done and even the bad things that have happened to you.
Happiness is not just the result of good things around you. “Folks are about as happy as they make uptheir minds to be.”, said Abe Lincoln. That’s the truth. The happiest people aren’t necessarily the people with nicest stuff or the best luck. The happiest people are the folks who have made up their minds to be happy. And why are they able to make up their minds in this way? Because of how they see the world – as a place where it’s good to be.
So, let me take the time to be thankful for things I will not be mentioning at the Thanksgiving table tomorrow. The obstacles in the primrose path to a trouble-free life. The embarrassing things I’ve done, the stupid things I’ve done. The times I was not at my best or at my nicest. The lessons I learned from these times helped me a person who has decided to be happy – I am thankful for that.
Even the jerks who were mean to me in middle school and made me fairly miserable. Because of them I learned to cope with people who seemed determined to keep me from being comfortable or content – that was a good thing to learn, and despite the pain – I am grateful for those experiences.
I would like it if I could be sure my remaining years will be free of painful lessons, but that seems unlikely. Life doesn’t often work that way. I do hope that every single year, I will find it as easy to be thankful as I do today. I hope I can continue to make up my mind to be happy. I hope all of you make up your minds to be happy as well! Have a great Thanksgiving, and feast and play and sing!
