Thanksgiving Thoughts

Taking time on Thanksgiving to put certain priorities in place and to be grateful for what you have is fabulous.  In a Utopian society, maybe we wouldn't need "Thanksgiving" because we would live our day to day existence in a state of gratitude.  But, the fact is, that the vast majority of us do not take the time to express and acknowledge the wonderful parts of our lives which, without them, would make life unbearable.  In that spirit, I offer the following.

Things I am thankful for

1.  My faith --  My personal faith (protestant Christian, if you're wondering) has grown tremendously over the past few years.  I have become fairly involved in my church both participating in an adult small group alongside my wife and leading a small group of high school boys who come to my house weekly for a bible study.  I've always believed that you teach what you most want to learn.  This is certainly true for me.

2.  My health --  I am a fairly healthy guy.  Sure, I could lose 50 pounds, and I should eat better and get more exercise.  But all in all, I just don't have many physical ailments despite my wife's protests to the contrary (I am something of a baby when it comes to feeling bad).  My health is in tact as far as anyone can tell.  I am grateful for that.  Many people my age and younger have serious, debilitating, and sometimes terminal health conditions.  I don't, and I am thankful.

3.  My family --  And for this, I mean my wife and 2 marvelous children.  They are the proverbial foundation of my life.  They give my life meaning, laughter, and great joy.  They love me unconditionally, although I sometimes make that a difficult chore for my wife.  They are always there for me, as constant as the number pi (away from a black hole, that is... pi ceases to be the 3.14 we have all come to know and love if you happen to be near one of those mass eating machines).  By the way, I'm a complete nerd!

4.  The rest of my family --  I have the best mother God ever created, 2 loving older sisters, and a caring father.  Throw into that mix an aunt who adores me, several fantastic cousins who I see much less often than I would like, and you've got a pretty darn good set-up.

5.  My job --  I don't think many people can say that they love getting up in the morning to go to work.  God has certainly blessed me with that ability.  Don't tell my boss, but I would do this work (teaching physics, that is) for far less than I am currently paid.

Ok, that's enough.  Life might sound pretty unfair to many readers if I continued.  I'm not sure I could continue much past 5, anyway.  The list of stresses and uncertainties in my life could far surpass a list of 5, but I won't go there today.

For anyone unfortunate enough to find this terrible bit of reading, I hope your list of things to be thankful for in your life is far greater than mine.  Happy Thanksgiving!