just don't feel like you can. It's a situation all of us have had at one time or another. 2013 has been a tough year for many of the regular readers here. We have lost quite a few dear friends, many far earlier than anyone would expect and all without an explanation. The pain felt is very real and the grieving process can take months, years or a lifetime. With respect of privacy, I won't list their names because they were not public figures. They were wonderful people who will be greatly missed.
Famous people who we have come to know so well we felt like they were a part of our lives have died this year as well, leaving even more emptiness. For me, writers like Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy, actors James Gandolfini and Dennis Farina, announcers Pat Summerall and Ken Venturi, rockers Lou Reed and Ray Manzarek have all been woven into the fabric of my life for many decades. It seems like every week another friend or someone admired is passing away. So how do you give thanks for that?
Expressing thanks can come in different shapes and sizes. Many use prayer and scripture, others simply say thanks to the people they know and love. They both work for me. But something changed in me several years ago, when I was struggling with grief. I decided that I was going to give thanks a different way.
We have no idea how long we get to be here so I decided that I wasn't going to waste another minute of it. What better way to give thanks than to use what time has been given to the fullest? Thank you for giving me one more day to be better, nicer, and filled with grace. Thank you for giving me the courage to try something new, even if I fail, and giving me the determination to get back up. Thank you for giving me one more day to help people going through tougher times than me. Thank you for allowing me to be compassionate enough to feel sadness when others are no longer given another day.
Thoreau had it right when he talked about living a life of quiet desperation. My Thanksgiving day hope for everyone is that we shun the life of quiet desperation. I hope we all grab life like a wet towel, twisting the ends until we start wringing out everything in it. Twisting until the happiness, joy and sense of adventure and purpose pour out of it in front of us. Then when life has nothing more to give, we let the towel fall to the floor, soaking up everything for the next person who dares to pick it up. That is something to be truly thankful for.
Till next........
Looking at life through the odd mix of optimism, sarcasm, love and humor and not always in that order.
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