As Thanksgiving approaches.....what are you grateful for?

recoveringenabler

Well-Known Member
Staff member
As we approach this holiday of Thanksgiving, where family dramas can reign, where our thoughts of how it could've/should've/might've been show up, where our minds can snap with all there is to do to make a "perfect Hallmark moment"..........perhaps we can take a little time to look at what we're grateful for, what brings us joy, what makes our heart sing, what makes life worth living.........

For me, it starts with love. I am so grateful to feel loved and to love. I am grateful for my husband and all that he brings to my life, the humor, the care, the depth of feeling, the laughter and the shared sorrows, all of it. He is the love of my life and I am fortunate to have found him.
I am grateful that my granddaughter made it to 18!! And, that she is happily beginning her life's journey in her Freshman year at college, exactly where she wants to be.
I am grateful that my daughter, my only child and I, are forging a new relationship which allows us to be real and leaves behind all of the expectations, judgements and dramas of yesterday.
I am so grateful that I am able to let go and accept so much more then I ever have. My gratitude grows daily because of that ability. Acceptance across the board has changed my life in every possible way for the better.
I am grateful for my new home, my new life, the realizations that I am now embarking on a whole new adventure.
I am grateful for all the time I now have to pursue my new adventures.
I am grateful to be working at home, creating a new office/sanctuary/writing space to create out of.
I am grateful to feel so alive and passionate, to be healthy and open and ready for the next step.
I am grateful for all of you.........and what you all bring to my life.........

Well that's me, what about you, what are you grateful for?

I hope that you all have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving filled with love, joy, peacefulness, good friends, good food and lots of laughter........
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Beautifully written! Also a great idea to look at what we are thankful for this week and always.

I am thankful for...
Family that love unconditionally even when things aren't perfect. A husband who still makes me laugh each day; he is considerate, kind, and caring (with a wicked sense of humor:)). My daughter who, at 21, is starting to come into her own; she is leaving for college in January which is a huge step for her. difficult child, who while he still makes me frustrated beyond belief more days than not, has made such amazing progress and there is hope that more improvements will still happen. Extended family who help make life so much more fun (for Thanksgiving we have 14 people coming (from inlaws, to sister, to nieces, nephews, great-nieces, & great-nephews and the next day 4 more; all are staying for the weekend-not necessarily at our house-whew)! Having a job that involves working with children (so much is wrong with education these days but when I close my doors and get to be with the kiddos it is still fun). Good friends-not a huge number but ones that care, listen, and are there for me. My faith. Boot camp-great exercise with great people-it's a natural high! All of you-it's been a difficult journey and it takes a village; all of you are part of that village. Small pleasures like a steaming cup of hot chocolate, hot tea, bubble baths, small surprises, etc...
 

Tanya M

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Staff member
I am grateful for my faith in God as that has been my saving grace. Through my faith I have been able to forgive with my heart when my mind says no. Through my faith I have hope for what once seemed hopeless.
I am grateful for my husband and the love he has for me. He makes me feel so cherished. He is my best friend.:couple:

I am grateful for my health and being cancer free for 21 years.

I am grateful that I have a good job and a nice home.

I am grateful for a hot shower, a warm bed on a cold winters night, the wildlife I am blessed to watch in my backyard - numerous birds, turkeys, deer, even opossum's :laugh:

I'm grateful I have running water and it's safe to drink.

I'm grateful for my family and friends.I am grateful for this forum and the support I have found here
:notalone:
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I am grateful for my own recovery, first off, or I would not have a peaceful, kind life and all the love I find myself surrounded by.

I am grateful for my husband Tom for his unconditional love and acceptance and kind heart and his desire, shared with me, to adopt two more children. He is my rock.

I am grateful to 37 and my grandson because at least he is functioning and getting a bit better and he even offered to pay for my expenses to see Grandson, something he has NEVER done before. I'd love to see Grandson and usually end up not having enough money to travel there. This is a true blessing...if he doesn't take back his offer ;) Truly, I'd rather pay myself.

I am grateful for Julie, her SO, and my gorgeous little grandbaby who I love so much and who looks just like her beautiful mother.

I am grateful to Sonic for teaching me the true meaning of heroism, bravery, goodness, and all things wonderful and for his sunny outlook on life that rubs off on all whom he touches.

I am grateful to Jumper, who is also so very special that she seems to touch everyone she knows. She is so full of love and goodness.

I am grateful for my pets, my two little dogs and my cat, who know just when I need their love. It is kind of spooky!

I am grateful for all the marvelous wonders in life that money can't buy.

I am more than grateful for this wonderfu forum and all the wise warrior moms here who I still learn so much from. Thank you!!!!
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
There is nothing for which I'm not grateful. I am grateful for the brokenness, grateful for the fear and for the courage to face each loss with eyes open and to own each triumph with eyes cast down, understanding it is all of our triumph, all of our fear, each of our coming real.

Those who have been here with us longer know I began watching Joel Osteen during the time I was most broken. This morning, he was about generational blessings.

Everyone knows, I think, about the idea of generational curses.

There are (of course there are, and how did we miss this!) generational blessings, as well.

And once I looked for them, I could see them, could see so many of them right there, in effect and working away, plain as day.

Here is a thing for us all to think about: Our parents and grandparents worked hard for me, for each of you, for all of us, for our children and for their children and grandchildren, unknown. They risked and they hungered and froze so we could be right here, right where we are, capable of dealing with our own challenges with grace and with strength and integrity.

It wasn't easy for them, and it does not have to be easy for us.

We have been dreamed of and sacrificed for, ourselves, and we need to honor that, not denigrate or apologize for where we are not strong enough ~ or for whatever "enough" it is we believe we are not.

Wear your blessings well.

***

So, that was Joel Osteen's message this morning.

Powerful stuff.

I am so happy I watched this morning, so happy you made this thread, Recovering, so I could share it with all of us.

There was something else Joel Osteen said, too. A thing we say, here on the site, about there being a plan, some pattern we cannot understand in everything that is happening, to us and to our children.

Pretty much, what he said, in essence, is: trust that this is so.

Finally, though I am not so sure about where I am or what I claim, in the spiritual/religious belief arena, this is something else Joel Osteen said, this morning: This is why the enemy fights our children so hard.

That is an extraordinary thought, a thing to wonder about and consider, whether we reject it in the end or not.

I was making breakfast at the time and husband was feeding the dog chicken, which brought the cat in to see what treats the dog was getting while she was out of the room (which the dog found highly offensive, as might be imagined).

And I missed the context of that last statement. But...none of us knows how the story comes out. I wrap myself in sadness over what I lose, over my shame, over my shortcomings or over the things my children have done, when I don't even know what is really happening, at all.

I do not have the generational long view.

Perhaps, this is what acceptance feels like.

***

So, I am aware of gratitude as a separate, powerful force, this morning. As something outside of myself that I see when I look to see it there, where it is, working away with or without my awareness.

***

Thanksgiving toast: "Welcome to our home. This meal was prepared for you."

Which sounds too simple to have any meaning, but which somehow works beautifully for us.

Then, you toast. It is a rule in our family that we need to look into the eyes of each person when the glasses are clinked together.

You would be amazed at what a difference that time of legitimacy, that moment out of time, out of our usual roles, makes for a family.

Well, it does for ours.

We are all pretty hot and heavy into our roles.

:O)

I actually say that, every Thanksgiving, even now. I think about each of the people. (Or pets. In the years when we hosted the family? Half the people in husband's family think it is okay to bring their pets to dinner, for Heaven's sake. Add ours, and the fact that husband's mom's grown dog was never house broken....) Anyway, I think of each of the people who will be gathered around my table (probably feeding their dogs underneath it) and I picture their faces and I wish us all well and happy. And I try to be generous in my spirit, and I set that intention for our coming together.

And interestingly enough, those good things are the things I remember about those years, about those holidays. (Even though one year? One of the cousins brought a half grown Husky, who wound up getting his head stuck between the wrought iron railing on the staircase when he was chasing the cat ~ who roared into our bedroom and pulled down the curtains.)

True story.

By the time the cat pulled the curtains down, the Husky was crying because his head was stuck. I don't even know how they got him out of there, but they did.

That is why I need to have that time out of time for myself, after the holiday dinner is over and everyone has made their way safely home.

Every holiday, after everyone is gone and everyone in my own family is asleep, I make fresh coffee, just for me, and drink it from a fragile, porcelain cup that belonged to my grandmother.

I wonder what the holidays were like for her, and I relish the peace and quiet, and the coffee.

That's my good secret. Every holiday, I know that, whatever happens, whoever starts a fight or leaves in a huff or cries over their gifts, I will have that time for reflection, drinking coffee from a cup that my grandmother too drank from.

It's a beautiful thing.

***

When there were little kids, we would light the candles before we made the toast. We would make the toast, and eat the appetizers.

The youngest child present got to blow out the candles.

The candles are always white, and they will be white, this year.

A Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We are moving through our lives as we were meant to. We are strong enough. We are brave enough. We are meant to thrive, meant to be generous and kind and happy.

We are the fortunate ones, in so many ways.

Cedar
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
I am thankful for my hubby, who loves me and works hard to provide the necessities (and luxuries) we have.

I am thankful for my daughter, who has pretty much shed the title of difficult child and is an amazing young lady.

I am thankful for both Son #1 and #2, and the grands, who add a great deal to our lives.

I am thankful for my sweet Buddy, and the cats, who provide that all-important unconditional love.
 

Origami

Active Member
--I'm thankful for my husband, who commiserates with me in the bad times and laughs with me in the good times.
--I'm thankful for all my kids, PCs, difficult children, and the easy child/difficult child combos!
--I'm thankful for the grandkids, who still embody everything that is good and innocent.
--I'm thankful that hubby and I still have jobs, which were on shaky ground for a while.
--I'm thankful that my parents are still around and that I'm so lucky to have been brought up by such sane and grounded people.
--I'm thankful for this forum and the new friends who, although I can't see your faces, keep me pointed the right direction in such kind, loving, and helpful ways.
 
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