What are you going to do for Thanksgiving? How are you going to celebrate it? Will you spend the time with family and friends, eat a turkey, or catch a game or two on television? Doing all that is great, but for me, I'd like to go a step further.

Every year, I like to take this time to sit down and think about what this holiday really means to me. What is there to be thankful for?

I think about things that have happened to me and my loved ones during the past year. The negatives come easily to mind, while the positives are more forced. Then, I think about other people and all that has happened.

Unfortunately, this year has been a year full of tragedies and disasters – both natural and man-made (earthquakes, hurricanes, third world countries where food and medical aid is scarce, wars, etc.). When I think of the devastation, all the pain and suffering, I get a bit of a reality check.

There are so many more people who are in much worse situations, and then I feel as if a heavy "burden" has been lifted. I realize (with some humiliation) how lucky I really am, to be where I am, and to have what I have. The space where the "burden" has been is now filled with a sense of peace and gratitude. There is much to be thankful for. I am alive, I have a family who loves me, friends, and I live in a "safe" place, where there is peace instead of war, food instead of famine, and a house to live in, rather than a make-shift shelter.

Yes, even with all the bad things that have happened to me, I am thankful for what I do have. There will always be other people who are not as lucky.

I would like to take this time to wish each and every one of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Last reviewed:
  On 2 Nov 2005
  By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.