Day 272: Thankful

I have mentioned this before, but to catch up any new or hit and miss readers -I saw an idea on a friend's Facebook to do a gratefulness challenge everyday up through Thanksgiving. I thought it was a good idea for me to spend this November, a rough month for me with Chad gone for our anniversary and the holiday, focusing on all the wonderful things in my life.

I know I get sappy during the holidays, but doing this has helped me spend at least a few minutes a day focusing on being grateful. I also have tried to not write a lot of complaining status updates. I think focusing on the positive has helped me be more positive, something I kind of forgot for awhile.

The first couple of months of this deployment, I was so overwhelmed that I literally had days when I thought I was going to have to quit my job because I wasn't holding my stuff together very well. I feel like I at least have gotten a handle on much of the daily things which helps me deal when stuff goes awry.

I think being grateful once a day has made me more aware of the blessings that abound in my life all the time. In America, we have a day where we are supposed to focus on these blessings and give thanks. In a nation where we are so rich, I wish more people focused on giving thanks.

We are so focused on consumerism and finding the best deals on Black Friday that we don't really realize how much most of us have. Most people in this country live better than so much of the world. Even some of the poorest people here live so much better than the average citizen of many countries. We have such an abundance of wealth. The more I pay attention to being grateful, the more the expression "an embarrassment of riches" makes sense.

I look around my house and see warm cozy furniture, two rooms I don't even use most of the time, a pantry full of food, plus a chest freezer full of meats and meals, a closet stuffed with clothes, a baby who has everything a baby might need, more clothes than she can wear, two vehicles that are relatively new and in good condition, three computers, iPods, iPhones, cable television with DVR, and the list goes on . . . I really have to ask myself how much of what I have is even necessary.

Plus I have money to travel to see family, buy whatever we need or want most of the time. I know that God has truly blessed me with a healthy family, beautiful children and so much more than I can ever use. While I may not have as much "stuff" next year if we decide I can stay home with the baby, I will still be tremendously wealthy in all the ways that matter.

I hope  this blog finds you as blessed and grateful this year. Happy Thanksgiving.