Gratitude Is What It’s All About

Thanksgiving is upon us and it is time to express my own gratitude for so many blessings.

I’m most thankful this year for the incredible event that, in my mind, has proven our country is still the country of opportunity and capable of overcoming the worst and elevating the best.

When Barack Obama became our President-Elect, the joy brought tears to my eyes. Aside from the fact that I supported Obama for President, I was overcome that in my lifetime the people of the United States of America voted an African American to its highest office.

Although I felt confident in Obama’s eventual victory for the last three months of the campaign, since Geraldine Ferraro had been the Democratic nominee for Vice President and the party lost, I had believed that neither a woman nor a black could become President in my lifetime. It seemed that ignorance, hatred, bigotry and fear would hold sway for many, many years.

So, I’m deeply thankful that my country can now lift its collective face towards a brighter, more enlightened future.

Then I have so much more to be grateful for that it would take pages and pages to list it all, but I’ll give it the old college try to hold it down to a couple of paragraphs.

With all my heart, I thank the Universe for giving me the opportunity to seek my bliss, to place me in a situation where I can write, for once without a high-pressure job to juggle while trying to tempt my muse to visit me.

I’m thankful to have a job, a place to live and the ability to pay my bills. I know that there are many living in fear of losing one or more of these things and know that I am lucky.

Thankfully, I have people who love me and people that I love – perhaps the greatest gift of all. I spoke to one of those people today, and said I never feel lonely. Wow, how blessed am I?

So, for Thanksgiving I’ve decided to spend the day alone, finishing my first rewrite on the novel I’ve been squeezing out of my brain for more than two years and feeling deeply grateful.

My very heartfelt wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to you all!