GivingThanks

I thought this an appropriate topic for a blog post since we are already in the holiday season, with Thanksgiving recently passed.

It is still a time when much is changing for many of us, and change remains a double edged sword: on one hand it can usher in new and exciting opportunities; on the other hand it sometimes involves the loss of things we like and have grown accustomed to, thus generating fear.

One thing is for certain in this holiday season, or in any other season for that matter: we all have so much to give thanks for. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor, old or young, challenged with any number of issues. It is a privilege to be human and alive on this planet. Whenever our so-called problems weigh us down, we need only pause a few minutes -or longer- to realize the truth of this.

I recently read a novel that took place in the period prior to, during, and after WWI in Germany. It was about a girl orphaned at a very young age in Berlin, how she was passed from foster home to orphanage, to living on her own, all at very tender ages with absolutely no support system. The things she needed to do to survive were pretty amazing, even by today’s standards. And the backdrop of the story was the deteriorating political system in Germany after WWI, where hyper-inflation just about wiped out the middle class and created perpetual hunger for many, where cardboard shoes were the fashion of the moment.

What was really interesting about the story, besides the plight of this young woman thrust into unbelievably uncertain times, was the character of not just her but her friends: they were too busy surviving to complain about anything. And of course, none of these characters had retirement funds or owned homes that had diminished in value; those were things way beyond the scope of their reasonable expectations.

What can we learn from a novel like this? We are an incredibly lucky group of people living in the United States at this moment, even with the economic gyrations taking place around us. And we have many, many, reasons to give thanks.

And we have many, many, reasons to give thanks.

Happy holidays everyone.