Counting My Blessings

Counting My Blessings

As you all know, it’s the week of Thanksgiving, and not to follow a fad or an expectation, but this post goes along with it.

But unlike many blogs/facebook statuses/tweets/pictures you will see this week, I don’t want to just list everything I’m thankful for and call it a day.

I don’t really know what I’m going for here, but if I figure that out, I’ll let you know.  In the meantime, just keep reading.

Just sitting here in my dorm room typing this makes me think about the things a lot of us take for granted.

1)      I’m nice and warm, while it’s cold and rainy not five feet from where I’m sitting.

2)      It’s well lighted in here, while some people will sit in the dark today because of a power outage or an overall lack of electricity.

3)      I can turn on my sink and get clean, cold water, and I can wash my hands in it, even drink it.

4)      I’m in a dorm room, which means I’m in college.  I’ve been given great opportunities, support, and motivation to get here.

5)      My college education will not come out of pocket.  I’m not bragging, I’m telling it how it is.  I had some great teachers in high school, and it was their efforts and the motivation of my friends and family that helped me earn a full scholarship.  It’s still kind of weird to think that I actually got a full ride.  Like, you hear people talk about it, but it just seems like a sort of impossible dream.  But I made it happen.

6)      I’m able to sit here and listen to thousands upon thousands of songs all at my disposal.  Not only are humans blessed with the talents to make music, but we have the technology to spread it around the world.  I’m currently listening to a playlist of songs I played in band.  One, I’m thankful for musical instruments and the fact that people can play them so beautifully.  Two, I’m thankful that I personally can play a musical instrument, and that I’m not half bad.  Three, I’m thankful for all the memories and opportunities that band has brought me.  I wouldn’t be who I am today without it.

7)      My roommate isn’t a creep, freak, or psycho.  With the random roommate assignment came the fear that I would have to live with someone that I either hated or feared.  She turned out to be a perfectly normal person, well, according to society’s standards.  We get along great, and one day I’ll write a post about our experiences while living together.  That’ll be a good post.  Stay tuned for that one.

8)      Star Wars is actually a thing, and I can watch it anytime I want.  Let’s be honest, that was a great series of movies, and the world is a better place because of them (I’ve got a poster of Darth Vader hanging by my bed as long as a movie poster for the special edition films that came out in 1997, so that’s what made me think of that).

9)      Friends are some of the best things we can ever have.  In my dorm room I’ve got three picture frames, a painted canvas, and a painted wooden set of my initials, all made for me by different friends.  Add to that the various gifts they’ve given me over the years like movies and storage containers (a great graduation gift), and my room reminds me of lots of great memories and just how lucky I am to know these people.  I wouldn’t trade them for anything, and as the song from Wicked goes, “because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”  Seriously though, they’re all great.  All of them.

10)   My family is also equally as great.  I’ve got letters and postcards that I’ve gotten sitting around my dorm room.  I love getting things in the mail, and since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten letters from my grandparents, letters from my aunt, and postcards from my parents, and every time I open my P.O. box it makes me smile.  It reminds me that they’re thinking about me and are proud of what I’ve done so far with my life.  I mean, when I think about lots of the things that I’m thankful for, I can give some of the credit to my family for making those things happen.  So they’re pretty cool people.

11)   Rachel McAdams was born.  Out of all the actresses in the world, she’s one of my favorites, if not my most favorite.  On my book shelf are four movies that she’s in, along with a movie poster of the Notebook hanging on my wall…and let’s just say I’m always looking to buy more movies that she stars in. *hint hint*

12)   I’ve been to Disney World three times in my life time, and many people will be lucky to go once.  I’ve got both a Disney themed Rubik’s cube sitting on my desk and a little Mickey Mouse figurine (that’s decorated like R2-D2, so that’s cool too).

13)   Speaking of Disney, I’m thankful that the Imagineers (the creative team behind Disney) has written books that help you think and do things like an Imagineer, because they’re going to help me get ready to hopefully be one someday.  I’ve got two of their books, and I learn something new every time I pick them up.

14)   Socks are a thing.  Who knows what we would do without them, right?

And that’s just a few things I’m thinking about as I sit here typing all of this.

The fact of the matter is that amidst all the bad things going on in the world, I, and many other people, have so many good things going on for me.

I think one of the bad things about our society is that the week of Thanksgiving there seems to be an influx of “I’m thankful for this…I’m thankful for that…” and that’s all great and all, but after Thanksgiving is over, after the parade is done, the football games are over, the food is gone, we all go on with our lives, usually straight into the Christmas season. 

One of the downfalls of this is that we, myself definitely included, forget about that thankful feeling we had in late November long before even March rolls around, and that’s just a span of four months.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that counting your blessings does make you look differently at your life and make the bad things going on seem a little less life-wrecking. 

So as you gather around the table this Thursday, or around a football field like I will be doing, be thankful.  As you gather around the Christmas tree in less than a month, be thankful.  As you count down to 2014, be thankful.  As you give out valentines, be thankful.  As you wear green to avoid being pinched, be thankful.  As you celebrate every holiday, be thankful.

Be thankful for the fact that you’re here on the earth.  Be thankful for the family you’ve got.  Be thankful for the friends that are in your life because they want to be.  Just be thankful.

It’s something I know we could all do a little more of.

Gobble, gobble, everybody.

Mo