Thankful

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow. We all know what that means. We all look forward to stuffing our faces full to capacity with a feast that most people in this world dream about, then roll our gluttonous, over-stuffed bodies over to the couch, and blame the tryptophan (not the fact that we just ate about 2,000 calories of fatty, carby, sugary goodness in one sitting) for dozing in and out of consciousness while football plays on the TV in the background. Turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, potatos, yams, casseroles, pies, biscuits... are we not lucky? Should we not stop to breathe in deep the sweet and savory aromas of a Thanksgiving meal, and be grateful?

Gratitude is an amazing thing. It keeps you grounded. It keeps you humble. It keeps you satisfied - and while you may want more from life, gratitude helps you accept the fact that sometimes you can't always have what you want the exact moment that you want it... because it helps to reduce that disappointment you feel when things don't go exactly the way you want it to. Stay grateful. Things can always be much worse. Stop and take a look around - do you really, and truthfully, honestly have it that bad? Probably not...

So what am I thankful for this year? Well I'm thankful I'm alive for starters. I'm healthy, I'm in relatively good shape, I'm not ill, I have no ailments, I've got all my limbs, my lungs are breathing and my heart is beating. Awesome! Aside from the obvious, I'm thankful for my friends and family. Love is by far one of the most important things in life to be grateful for. If you can love someone, and be loved in return, then you can be grateful you've had the opportunity to feel that. I have some of the best friends in the world - and they are scattered all over the world too! St. Kitts, Canada, Australia, Florida, Virginia... but it doesn't matter - no matter how far away they are, no matter the time difference, they are always there for me, without fail. To have friends like that, I consider myself extremely lucky. And I'm grateful for each and every one of them. One person in particular (and you know who you are) I'm not sure where I'd be right now if it weren't for you. Thank you for being you, and thank you for being in my life. I'm grateful for knowing you.

And of course I'm thankful I have a job in something I actually studied for, and on top of that, I get to live in a beautiful paradise every single day. Sure, things haven't always gone as planned for me. Sure, I didn't expect to be in the position I'm in at this point in my life. But I'm not going to be down. I'm not going to drag myself through the ditches and beat myself up for mistakes I've made, and failures I've experienced. All of those things make me who I am. All of those dark moments have molded me into a stronger, more confident woman. And the best part is - there's a light at the end of this tunnel. A bright light. And I can see it, I can feel it... the light is mine, because I choose it. I'm thankful that the lightbulb finally went off for me. Because now, more than ever in my life, I know exactly what I want and what I need to be happy. And I will never settle for anything less.

Gratitude. Find it. And hold onto it tightly. It can save you.