I'm Thankful For...

("Flowers, Fruit, and Insects"; Artist:  Rachel Ruysch,  c. 1716)

Tonight as I rest from an afternoon of working on the front lines of the retail game, I started thinking about what I am thankful for.  As I have been away from my blog for more than a few days of getting acclimated to a new job and the accompanying daily schedule changes, I have been in a slightly different head space. Not necessarily a good or bad thing in itself. One does what one needs to do at any given time. Day by day. Moment by moment. My internal clock seems to be adjusting nicely to the changes, and as I was feeling settled within myself this chilly and dark night, I decided the time was beyond ripe for me to check in on my blog. To get back in the swing. It's 11:18 PM, and Thanksgiving Day is almost over...I better get cracking...

It feels very fitting that my fresh post be about what I am thankful for. It's Thanksgiving, after all. I had a thought, as fleeting as it was, to look for some appropriate 'Turkey Day' photos to add. As quickly as the thought came to me, it left. It's a day we have celebrated for years, touting it as a wonderful meeting between the Pilgrims and the Indians when the truth of the day is far from that. I could go on and spout a lengthy diatribe about the horrific side of this days history, but that would take me away from what I initially intended for this post to be. Nothing long and drawn out, but something simple...and positive.

("Still-Life With Fruit, and Insects", Artist: Rachel Ruysch,  c. 1711)

What am I thankful for? My life. My boyfriend, my family, and my friends...all know who they are. My new part-time job...bills, you know. My health, as crappy as it has been at times...I feel better at the moment than I have in some time, so I'm very thankful for that. I'll add to that and say that I am thankful to have the clinic I go to for check-ups and the mandatory prescriptions I take (I would die without them). I am thankful for the sense of calm I feel now, and the 'living in the moment' mind set I possess. I am thankful that I am able to embrace this imperfect being that resides within this suit of skin, and that I am able to accept me for me. Warts and all.

Each day brings with it new possibilities. Each moment is charged for new thoughts and fresh starts. Energy is all around us. I am thankful that I am an open person, and that I'm not alone. I am thankful for the world, for the nature that flows around us, and my place within it. It's about noticing the small stuff and realizing that those things aren't as superfluous as we once thought. If you can just see past the negative stuff, there is so much around us to be thankful for.

I didn't intend to get philosophical, to make it seem as if I was going a bit deep with my thoughts of thankfulness. Life can be as simple, or as complicated as we make it. I'm just happy that right now my life is more about the simple, and less about the complicated.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you haven't thought about the things that you are truly thankful for, I recommend that you do. You might discover that there's more than you first thought...