The Art of Being Thankful

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday this month, I’m sure most of you have friends or family on Facebook that have been posting something each day that they are thankful for. I have whole-heartedly enjoyed reading each and every one of those posts because it has not only helped me to get to know my friends and family better, but it reminded me to be thankful for those things, too. I consider myself to be a very thankful person who is ever-mindful of the many blessings I have in my life but after reading some of my friend’s “thankful” posts, I realized that I have overlooked some of the most basic blessings.

The past several years have been a huge financial struggle for our family. There were times when I didn’t know how much longer we could afford to keep our home. That worry was a constant weight on my heart and it got to the point where at the end of each day I would have to think, “Today was another day that we have a roof over our heads.” Shelter, like so many other things, is a basic blessing that we so often take for granted.

Now that things are improving for us financially, I hope I never forget how humbling it was to feel that way. When you strip away all the daily chaos of our lives and our never-ending to-do lists, I hope we all can remember to be thankful for everything, even the smallest thing; our family, the health of our children, a warm house, food in the pantry, our jobs…

It’s important to give that feeling of hope and thankfulness to others who are less fortunate. There are so many things we can do to help those in need and with the holidays coming up, now is the perfect time. When you’re an avid deal-watcher/couponer, there are tons of incredible deals to be had all year long. Try to scoop up a couple extra of those items throughout the year and donate them to a toy drive, a food pantry, homeless shelters, etc. Our stockpiles, another blessing, are full of items that can be donated to help others who are struggling.

I hope you can find some time to stop and think about how we all let our daily blessings slip by without even noticing them. Normally, I wouldn’t consider Facebook to be anyplace that I might find anything inspirational or life-changing but in this case, it has been and I’m thankful for that. I just wish that the “thankful posts” were something that we all did every day, not just when Thanksgiving is coming.

Have a happy, healthy and thankful Thanksgiving!