What are you thankful for?

Since today is Thanksgiving here in the US, and since I know many of my readers struggle with depression and other issues that make it very difficult to appreciate the good things life has to offer, I wanted to take a few minutes and talk about being thankful.

When we first got married, Angela and I had a book that we would each write down what we were thankful for as this holiday approached. I don’t know what happened to the book, but the idea of putting that in writing was a great one!

This year I am thankful for many things. I’m thankful that I’ve gotten more settled and comfortable in my job than I was this time last year. I’m thankful for the people I work with who can make me laugh, show me their appreciation and who I just enjoy interacting with. (Yes, that’s not all of the people I work with, but I’m thankful that there are some!)

I’m thankful in the same way for all the people I had the chance to get to know and interact with because of both of my websites. I’ve exchanged emails, ideas, and even met a few great people who I have learned a lot from, both personally and professionally.

I’m thankful for the friends I’ve made, the progress I’ve made at being a better friend and the patience and understanding of my friends as I learn how to do this. I still feel completely awkward with people too often, and I know I have much to learn about interacting with people but I feel like I’m growing in this area, and I’ve been able to maintain growth throughout my healing journey this year pretty consistently, which is all I could ask for. It sure beats making unhealthy decisions all the time. 🙂

I’m thankful that last year’s awful health scare that our niece gave us right after her birth is but a distant memory, and we celebrated the first birthday of a happy, healthy little girl last week.

Last, and certainly not least, I am most thankful for my wife. She’s an inspiration to me in more ways than I could tell you, but I’ll try to roll off a few. She is the kind of thoughtful, warm, friendly person I aspire to be. She constantly sees opportunities to make people happy with a thoughtful gesture, and always knows exactly what the gesture should be. She has an easy way about her interactions with people, she can be charming, hospitable and witty in any group, without being overbearing. I learn more about being a good friend from watching her than I probably do from any other place in my life.  She’s also taught me to enjoy life, every day. That no matter what may be going on, there is always something to be happy about, thankful for, or to smile about. She’s allowed me to do the things I enjoy, that make me happy or just keep me healthy, with nothing but her full support.

Most of all, she inspires me to be a better person in every realm of life simply because I want to be the best I can be as her husband. Someone so warm, compassionate, understanding, talented, smart, beautiful and alive deserves nothing less than my best efforts.