Beyond Words

Thanksgiving is officially over and now it’s a full- throttle Christmas mode. But how ‘bout we say goodbye to the Thanksgiving holiday but not the idea of being thankful? Everywhere I looked the past few weeks I saw the quote “There is always, always, something to be thankful for.” If that’s so and if so many people believe that, why is it we celebrate thankfulness only one day a year…a day that is immediately followed by a day when we go on shopping frenzies to buy all those things we think we have to have and things we think might make us happy? Does having more equate to more happiness? Does being happy equate to being thankful? Do things that frustrate us have to make us unhappy? Not always on all counts.

I’ve been frustrated the past few days but today I’m thankful for the very computer I’m writing this on. You see, I’m old school. Yes, I have a laptop but I’m still attached to my trusty desktop. And it died this week. Ten-year-old HP tower was fried. And I cried. But, thanks to the trusty geeks (they call themselves that) at Best Buy, I have a new one and one that was installed in my house by a phenomenal geek.

Funny how we’re grateful for the little and random things we perhaps never think about. I’m so thankful for Best Buy and its staff. I’m so very grateful that we could afford for me to just waltz into a store and purchase a new computer. (Merry Christmas to me?!) I’m grateful for all the reasons I even need a computer, including the writing of this blog. There are so many things I’m thankful for now that I think about it and am thinking we should all be thankful for more than just one holiday in November.

As Jimmy Buffet sang, we need to change our attitudes. This is also the philosophy behind a great book titled “FISH!” In the bestseller, a high-stress and non-energetic corporate office team is compared to the fishmongers in Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market. They may not have the most sought after jobs, but they are famously happy and thankful for their place of work. It’s a philosophy filled with lessons of being grateful and joyful.

Lessons learned.

An attitude of gratitude should be our goal and it starts with both the head and the heart. If you think you are blessed, you’ll likely feel blessed. If you love more than you long, you’ll feel loved. If you fill your life with things and people who build you up rather than tear you down, you’ll feel positive and thankful. Maybe instead of trying to “keep up with the Joneses” you might ask yourself if the life you are living is a life you would want someone else to have. Chances are your life is pretty darn good on many levels so being thankful for it is today’s Plan A. Plan B is to make “thanksgiving” a reason to celebrate 12 months a year; not just one day a year.

So. before you go out, stress out, and max out your credit card on holiday shopping and entertaining, sit back and be thankful…truly thankful. Be thankful you have a job even if it’s not your dream job. Be grateful you have a place to live even if it’s not your dream house. Be appreciative that you have a car instead of complaining about traffic. And always remember that so many out there have less than you but could very well be more grateful and happy than you. Be thankful for all of it and all of them. Even the geeks.