Thank You: Let's Do This!

        First off, let me make mention that I kinda wondered if I'd be falling a bit behind in the book, this time of year!  I did start this personal challenge a bit late, so bear with me.  That isn't to say that anything intended for later in the year isn't still important...it's just a bit out of sync with the rest of the calendar. ;)

        Week 47 in the book happens to be about thanksgiving, since in the United States, the fourth Thursday of November is celebrated as Thanksgiving, which as I said before, anyone who spends any time on the internet will already know.  (Funny how that works, isn't it?  Ahem.)

"Not what we say about our blessings,

but how we use them,

is the true measure

of our thanksgiving."

~ W.T. Purkiser

        After explaining an aspect of the tradition of this holiday, Christine goes on to give some perspective, and explain her wish that instead of simply saying the things for which we are grateful...she asks:

What can you do this Thanksgiving

to use your blessings?

        Just for the record... I'm pretty sure she was not meaning the people and such that we might list as points of gratitude, for us!  I don't happen to think "using people", in the common meaning of taking advantage unfairly, was quite what she had in mind!

        Having said that, I do agree that there is much to be said for making good use of the things we find to be talents, gifts or "blessings" in our lives. If we ignore the things that make our lives richer, fuller, easier, less lonely, more successful, etc., then are we really expressing our gratitude, even if we say we're grateful?

        As for the Thanksgiving holiday here... at my house, we tend to keep holidays, and other, notable days, simple. We aren't big on gifts, cards, and so on, and unless we're invited somewhere, we tend to just keep to ourselves. My dietary restrictions are expensive and complicated for people trying to feed a crowd, traditional foods, so staying home and doing our own thing has become the standard. This arrangement works out relatively well, since we enjoy watching it all come together, even if the production is difficult to manage, thanks to my body and its enjoyment of working against us!

        But what about Christine's question?  What can you do this Thanksgiving to use your blessings? Well, just making the meal utilizes several! Among them:

• The food: food doesn't just come easily to all people, and I know how difficult it can be for many to gather enough to make a meal. I am not one to take such a thing for granted. 
• The ability to stand and walk: I've had a rough time with this one, at various times over the past, few years. When one has spent several weeks at a stretch, in bed, and then has had to work back up to walking, this skill set becomes a gift to treasure! 
• My partner in crime: well, not really crime (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!), but at least in the cooking! I've been deeply grateful for someone who prefers prep and cleanup than the actual cooking! That part works out beautifully! 
• Our home, appliances, and all the items we use to prepare it: from a roof, to electricity, to cookware, I'm grateful for all of it! 

       But what about the more abstract things? I'm not sure where I learned to coordinate cooking, for instance. I didn't witness my mother cooking much, though my father said she had special gifts in that area; and while my grandmother (his mother) was incredibly gifted in this area, and I lived with her for a time, the actual ability to figure out how to put it together properly wasn't something I really understood, at the time. Most of what I've learned, I've had to figure out myself, sometimes using recipes, the internet, or other people as guides. I can certainly be grateful I somehow developed those gifts, including the ability to read a recipe (that part did come thanks to my grandmother)!

        Another example might be that my dietary restrictions have forced me to be more careful of what I put into my body. I certainly eat a healthier diet since having to watch every bite! As horrible as it can be for one having struggled in a war with food, most of one's life... in having a different kind of battle with it, being grateful for the changes could be in order.

        And I suppose those with whom we no longer celebrate the holidays could be thanked for forcing us to create our own traditions. Our home becomes a different kind of place, when we're working diligently on a common goal, such as this. It's a nice gift to be able to have something that brings us together, like that, regardless of the circumstances.

        See what I mean? Being able to step past the traditional and actually celebrate the unusual in our lives, can open us up for recognizing more positives in our lives, and add a deepened sense of gratitude.  If we were doing what I grew up doing, i.e., getting dressed up to go have a dinner with people I didn't know very well, many of whom had slaved away in hot kitchens and some who wondered if it was worth all the work for one hour of eating, I might not have had the opportunity to realize what a gift it has been to develop a kind of relationship at home that provides for moments of the kind of satisfaction that can come from meeting a common goal, together.

DISCLAIMER: Don't get me wrong, though.  I'm very well aware that this is a "silver lining" kind of attitude.  Believe me, if I focus on the things for which I am very much NOT grateful, I can quickly become rather bitter, as they join with other, similar things, and begin piling on and making me miserable, sending me into deep depression!  This is why I know it is so vital to stay focused on the neutral-to-positive things in our world - I struggle as it is, this cold, dark time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere), for a variety of reasons, and without a continuous effort of searching for light, I can slip into the darkness in no time at all.  I've learned that one the hard way, and I've also learned that it is much easier to stay focused on a habit of light and hope, than it is to come back to it after letting go of one.

        I'm still not sure if I answered Christine's question properly, but I guess this was what has been on my mind this season, generally, so it is what you get.  I do know that I've also been grateful for the PB Project, because it has forced me to stay focused on light and hope, if only for moments at a time in order to keep sharing positive energy on the PB Project Facebook community page.  The love, light and energy I sense among the members, there, have helped keep me going through the hard times, the past, (coming toward) two years. I had no idea, when I began, that it would be as important for me as it has become for anyone who has joined me!  Sometimes I feel like a hypocrite for sharing things that encourage focus on positive things...but in some ways, what I am saying in those posts, in particular, is that I need to hear that stuff as much as anyone else!

        So, to express my gratitude, I'm going to keep moving forward on the path of the Project, and hope that you'll stick with me, because I think we all have a better chance at success, if we're walking the path, together.  That was the founding premise of the thing, after all.

        Better days ahead, my friends!