In 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 Give Thanks!

It’s been a rough week. As my family prepares to funeralize a loved one in a couple of days, I have felt a surge of emotions. It has been challenging for me to commingle gratitude and grief.
This morning I read a post on social media that said, “Thanksgiving is just not the same this year”, and many agreed. With our world being submerged in uncertainty, families unable to gather, COVID cases at an all time high, seasonal depression on the rise and sudden losses steadily increasing, many of us are fighting to find something to be thankful for.
But then I came across something that I wrote three years ago, and it read:
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘥.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸.
𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
Those words reminded me that “thanksgiving” is not a day, it’s a lifestyle. And facing those moments where we have to dig deep for the silver lining doesn’t mean we’re not thankful, it means we are maturing enough to embrace a deeper meaning of gratitude.
So today…I will cook, eat, laugh and maybe even cry. I will make a deliberate decision to add the “happy” to my Thanksgiving. I will embrace all that today has to offer and in EVERYTHING I will continuously give thanks.
“𝙄𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨: 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪.” (𝙄 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 5:18)