To Be Thankful

BEING THANKFUL - something all of us have done a few times in our lives.  What does being THANKFUL mean?

THANKFUL - adjective - Glad that something has happened or not happened; that someone or something exists.
- expression of thanks
- conscious of benefit received.

As we are going into the SEASON OF PERPETUAL HOPE, we should be thankful for many things in our lives.  Thankful for our careers and the money we receive for doing our job (God knows jobs are far and few between these days, especially good ones).  Thankful for the wordly possessions we have, the creature comforts we have been given when there are so many of those around the world that don't have what so many of us do. Thankful for friends - many or few - they are there for each of our hardships, joys, tears (sad or happy), milestones in life, ear to vent to.  Thankful for our health, the health of our loved ones - even though we don't like to think about it, there are those that don't have the health they wish for or that their loved ones may not have for one reason or another.  Thankful for the very breath we take each day and given another day to fix what we have to that has been broken, fractured or splintered or to continue the goals we have to reach.  If you're not thankful for at least that, there is the alternative.

Thankful for our FAMILY.
FAMILY - defined as a group of people related to each other;  a group of related people including people who lived in the past; A group of people of common ancestry; A group of things related by common characteristics; A people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from common stock and a unit of crime syndicate operating within a geographical area (Which we know that to be in all intents and purposes as a MAFIA)

Family, whatever your definition may be, is the very part of our existence that makes us who we have become.  Unfortunately we couldn't or didn't choose our family (biologically anyway), but they were chosen for us for a reason.  Given to us as a benefit, to shape us, to make us stronger in whatever obstacle may come before us.  Building our character, building our personalities, allowing us to learn from others misfortunes, mistakes and sometimes from their, for lack of a better word, stupidity.  Now, that may sound like a slap in the face to family and many of you may ask "Why should I be thankful for that?"  Well, that's what made you who you are.  Family has been our most basic, fundamental foundation in our lives and family is the most taken for granted.  Our lives have become so busy that sometimes we don't take the opportunity to be thankful for them, to ask God to protect them, help them in their time of need, to call them or contact them through whatever means necessary we have to truly tell them we love them, are thinking of them and to truly ask them how they have been doing and truly want to hear it, regardless of how long and drawn out the story may be.    Life in families can either be very joyful or can be painful, depending on the dynamics of the family.  The system of a family is like a set up of dominoes, kind of a weird example, but if you think about it, its true ... we have learned everything we know from our family from the time we are born until the time we venture out on our own, and hopefully what we have learned to our benefit we will take with us and show others the positivity of that.  Dominoes fall against each other and sometimes fall out of place but still bump the next domino to continue the "design" that has been laid before it, and so our lives can be thought of as such. When we fall out of place and bump what is before us, we may not always see the "design" but we know how we got to the point we are at in that moment and just trust that the bump we made will lead us to where we have to be by the support of those we have behind us or however we got there.

We need to be thankful everyday for what we have benefited from and not to just concentrate it to just one day out of the year, like so many do.  Make memories with your FAMILY, tell them you love them, forgive them for whatever you feel necessary they have to be forgiven for to make your family ties better and stronger.  Be thankful that you have your definition of a family, show each and everyone you consider to be a part of your "Family" that you are truly thankful for them to be in your life, there are those that can't do that at all.  Just remember that in the end, when all is said and done and there is nobody else, all you have is FAMILY.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.