MY FAVORITE GIFTS

Every year around Thanksgiving Day, we are constantly barraged by this question: What are you thankful for? And I bet I can speak for more than myself when I say that, when caught unprepared, we’re quick to form the most generic answers known to man. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t express gratitude for our families, friends and our health. Those are, and will always be gifts that we are grateful for. We should be thankful for that EVERYDAY. But if you really sat down and thought about it, what else are you truly thankful for? I was thinking about this today and I came up with 3 of the most significant blessings in my life:
Ø I’m thankful for the gift of POTENTIAL – Have you all heard that saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?” Well, I used to think that I was a big fan of this attitude towards life – UNTIL I felt like I was getting handed lemons faster than I could produce the darn lemonade. You whine a little, talk about how sick you are of making and drinking this juice that you’ve suddenly formed an aversion to. But then after a while you realize that maybe there’s more to lemons than just lemonade. Maybe you could add it to iced tea or make some pie – SOMETHING! If there’s anything I’ve learned this year, it’s that seeing the potential in everything and everyone around us can be a saving grace in times when it seems like we can’t catch a break. It’s true that situations can become so heartbreaking or disappointing sometimes that you can’t possibly see how it could get better for you. But if you try just hard enough, and believe even just a little bit, you might realize something about the ordeal that could be important to you. And in the interim, you might realize some potential in yourself too.
Ø I’m also thankful for the gift of POSSIBILITY – In the last few years, one lesson has been imbedded into our minds time and again. That is that nothing is ever for sure – NOTHING. I think I’ve undergone and witnessed enough ordeals to know that not every situation or circumstance has JUST a right or wrong or JUST a black or white side. The more complicated the situation, the more shades of gray there are to consider. But often what happens is that we become so consumed by what SHOULD be that we tend to ignore what COULD be. When we ignore the COULD-BE’s in life, we’re ruling out hundreds of options that may help us out of our most challenging, and often perplexing dilemmas. No matter how confined we can feel, I’m starting to believe there’s a lot of truth being suggested when people say that, “The possibilities are endless!”
Ø And lastly, I’m ever so grateful for 2ND CHANCES (and often 3rd or 4th): This has meant so much more to me lately because I’m such a stickler for getting things right the first time – with practically everything. But I’ve looked at the decisions I’ve made and the ones I’m starting to make now and I’m so thankful that there’s this thing called “changing your mind” which works hand-in-hand with “learning from your mistakes.” I’m so terrified of making decisions because I don’t want to be wrong. I’ve forgotten that the only way to learn how to do something right is often to get it wrong first.

So there’s 3 things I’m thankful for. How about you guys?