Sunday, November 20, 2011

stating the obvious.

as most of you know, thanksgiving is this week. and thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, you know?

anyways, i started this post with the idea of writing down a bunch of stuff i'm thankful for. but i changed my mind and erased all that junk.

winds have changed.

tables have turned. 

justin bieber's a father.

and i've changed my dang mind.

so here's what we're gonna do: i'm going to teach you a thing or two, so listen up.

being a natural, i guess, optimist, one might say i'm pretty in love with life. i'm generally happy, i like to learn stuff, gain wisdom from old people, observe how people live and find happy things in everyday life...among other things. so, really i'm thankful for so much, you know? i'm thankful for the pencil sitting next to me for it is my only friend.

i can find joy in anything. i suppose it is a gift. or else i'm just gullible and foolish.

either way, the actual holiday of thanksgiving is one where we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing and double our weight in a matter of hours. and in the midst of that, we think of stuff we're thankful for. 

so, if you're an avid reader of this blog, i encourage you to find another hobby. but, if you've tried to and nothing else seems to grab your heart like my blog has, you've probably caught on to my "series" as i call it, where i choose a word, define it, and then give my two cents on the matter.

all of that to say- the definition of "thankfulness" is this:
  • feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.
which, in my opinion, is a pretty sorry description. especially since that's all dictionary.com gives me. 
i guess it was disappointing to me, because i was wanting some grand explanation of the word that this annual, national, and forever-old holiday is based on. but alas, that's what i got. 

so that aroused some new thoughts in my little mind.  
why am i disappointed? what kind of thing was i going for? 

and that's this:
you're reading this right now. you're breathing. you're blinking. you're thinking. most likely you're not dying. hopefully you're in good spirits and not wanting to vomit because of the many different courses the post has taken. hopefully you're not starving to death, or in excruciating pain. and i'm sure as heck there are people around you that love you more than you know.


and, to me, these things alone are enough to make me very content and happy and thankful. and not just "appreciative" thankful. that seems a bit flippant to me. i'm saying, whole-heartedly, completely and honestly grateful to God for your life. and actually...


(i guess i should have done this in the first place but,) gratefulness is: 
  • warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received
and that, i believe is more accurate to how we should feel on this holiday. 
so do this with me, wont you? this coming thanksgiving day, be grateful, not just thankful. forget all of the things that bother you and, if only for this one day out of the whole year, just be happy. be selfless. dont dwell on yourself the whole day. dont get caught up in problems or stress. tell your family you love them. just think about the soul God's given you and the body He's put you in to be here, on earth for this short time, and just be joyfully satisfied in that.


and really folks, thanksgiving day only comes around once a year, so please dont waste it. 

4 comments:

  1. Anna, this is probably my favorite post of yours to date. It made me laugh and it actually made me think. I was expecting just your normal ramblings, but then you got all serious and stuff and you were deep and interesting and awesome. It surprised me so much that I actually started laughing...
    Good job. Keep it up. :D

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  2. I love you, A. Please don't ever stop with your bluntly honest takes on life. Don't ever stop looking the world in the eye. ;D I know I don't comment much on here. Okay, so this comment will make a grand total of 2. But I DO keep up with your posts and I love them because they are completely YOU. This one was beautiful. Except for the part about the Biebs... ;)

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  3. THIS. WAS. SO. BEAUTIFUL! You are becoming quite a writer little missy:):)

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  4. wow anna. you amaze me sometimes. behind your supposed shallowness is a beautiful maturing (and yes, even deep) christian girl, ahem, woman. I am uber grateful for YOU!

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only the shallow know themselves. -oscar wilde