Hello everybody and welcome back to my monthly write up. I just wanted to take a minute to check in with every one and also to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. As I have gotten older the meaning behind thanksgiving has grown and evolved over time. When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was really just a chance to see all my cousins and family, have a great meal, and to put up some astronomical hall of fame-esk numbers in a game of post-feast football. Unfortunately I have not been able to make it back home to enjoy thanksgiving with my family for a couple years, but the space between us brings an immense amount of gratitude. I am still able to call and talk to my parents and my siblings every week and I couldn’t be luckier and more blessed with a group of people who love and support me in whatever I do. In every endeavor I have been able to get into in my life, those closest to me have been behind my goals and vision for whatever it is that I want to do and the purpose I have in this crazy experience we call life. Whether they really do believe in me or not or not, my family has always let me know that they support me and will have my back, even if some days I myself question what is going on.
As I did last year, I wanted to share a poem from the Omaha World Herald (the most popular and longest existing newspaper back in Nebraska). This is a piece that my family made a point to read aloud every year since my great grandparents hosted Thanksgiving waaaay back before I was born. Just reading it is very nostalgic and true and every year it hits a little bit deeper.
“Things To Be Thankful For”
“Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have enough to eat.
Be thankful for the mess that you clean up after a party, because it means you have been surrounded by friends.
Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you’re employed.
Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, because it means you have a home.
Be thankful for the heating (A/C here in Hawaii) bill because it means you are warm (cool).
Be thankful for the laundry, because it means that you have clothes to wear.
Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means you can walk.
Be thankful for the woman who sings off-key behind you in church, because it means you can hear.
Be thankful people complain about the government, because it means we have freedom of speech.
Be thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early-morning hours, because it means you’re alive.”
-Courtesy of The Omaha World Herald
I would be remissed if I did not also give my two cents on the state of our world and country and in particular our country post election. If you have any sort of presence in the social media world, in the first week of November, the world was either about to burn to the ground and end tomorrow, or election day was the best day in the past millennia. (This also is dependent on where you get your news from.) I’m not here to tell you what is right and what is wrong, but what I do want to convey to you is that no matter what side of the aisle you find yourself on, the sun came up the next day, the birds were still singing, and the world keeps on turning. If you spend too much time online you're bound to see so much hate and division, but I am here to remind you we all are not that different. We all love and are loved. There is so much power and peace in disagreeing with others without being disagreeable (this was a pretty tough lesson for me to learn personally but very important none the less). Most folks you’ll meet are not all that bad at all, and there’s more than likely something we can learn or take from everyone we meet or come in contact with. So as the holidays approach let’s all try our best to be thankful for some of the problems we don’t have. Things could be a heck of a lot worse. Aloha everyone and I wish you the best Thanksgiving possible.
Written by Nate Konecky R-S