Thankful

Photo by Nellie Adamyan on Unsplash

When I went to post my Sunday Starter for this week, which was on an entirely different topic, I remembered that in the USA it was the week of Thanksgiving. Since I was feeling particularly thankful for all the amazing things this year has brought me, I decided to delay my other post a week so I could write about it. Before I began, I wanted to see what I had already written on the topic; with this week's post being #195 (cannot believe it's been that many!) I went to my website and used the search to make it easier. I searched for words like Thankful, Grateful, and Gratitude which surfaced many posts, but nothing I found was fully themed around the topic. Great! I thought, I'll write about Thankfulness and Gratitude. My mind was focused on my new business and how great everything had been going. So many things to be thankful for. Before I start though, let me see if anything comes up for Thanksgiving…. The first search result was last year's Thanksgiving post, Won't you be my neighbor? When I re-read it, I immediately started crying.

Reading through this post - a post about Thanksgiving 2023 when my father was severely injured and put in the ICU - it reminded me of the true things I’m thankful for. Yes, I am very thankful for the success my new business has seen this year. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude of the companies that have hired me, invited me to speak at their events, and the followers on my business Instagram account. I am thankful for all the circumstances in my life that made it possible for me to go out on my own. I am thankful for all the things, but I'm most thankful for all the people.

I am thankful for all the things, but I'm most thankful for all the people.

Those that are the closest to me know that the person people see on stage doesn't last very long. They know I need my space; I need solitude to recharge and as a writer I am often in my own head thinking about all sorts of things, which makes me terrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries, horrible at calling people back, and if it wasn't for my husband Andrew I'd probably never make plans. I also value my personal space, hate when people hug me, and most social gatherings deplete my battery in just a few hours. I sound great, don't I? If you never saw me when I was "on" and only knew these things about me, you'd probably assume I hated people. While I do get a good laugh from an I hate people meme, what I am most grateful for in my life are the people. Yes, the same people that I don't call back, don't want them to hug me, and don't want to hang out with for too long. Those people. I am so incredibly grateful for them.

I am thankful for Andrew, who cheers me on every step of the way. I am thankful for my parents who guided much of the person I have become today. I am grateful my father made it through last Thanksgiving and that I still have both of my parents with me today. I am thankful for my high school friends who still make it a priority to get together every year around Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the friendships forged through toxic workplaces and colleague-friends that became full-friends. I am thankful that I don't relate to people complaining about the family's they married into, because I married into the very best one. I am grateful that my siblings are not just my siblings, but my friends that I love to spend time with. So many people. So much thanks.

So, thank you to all those on that list and those I forgot to mention. Thank you for putting up with me. I am working on remembering the birthdays and anniversaries. I'm trying to get better at calling you back and making plans. I constantly pray for my social-gathering-cup to be bigger and for my patience to grow, and while I may never want you to hug me, I'll always be here for a high five up top. Things are great, but it is the people and the experiences with those people that make life worth living.