Let’s just agree that the whole ‘being thankful” thing on Thanksgiving day is a little cliche` — is it not?   Ideally we are all supposed to feel thankful each and every day  and we are supposed to be aware of our blessings with each new sunrise.  But seriously, that is a little unrealistic.  The only people that can sustain that level of thankfulness are Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and perhaps Oprah. For everyone else, life is life and life gets in the way and life is hard and most days it’s a struggle to get through.  So we are given this one day to reflect.  It does not make us hypocrites to bitch and moan all year and then wax reflective on Thanksgiving; it makes us human.  At least we are given this one day a year when we are forced to be thankful.

Almost every person in my life is struggling with something right now.  Some have health issues, others can’t pay their bills, many are lonely, and some are fighting physiological demons.  These are my friends and my family and I think about each one of their concerns daily. They weigh on me and I worry about them.  I worry about myself too.  But today I thought, well, at least each one of these plights are separate; at least there are other things to be thankful for.  For example, I have cancer; but I am not alone.  Someone who is feeling the pressures of finances right now, at least has their health and someone who loves them. Each person that I know is struggling has at least one positive aspect in their lives.  It just takes a little searching to find it sometimes. A little bit of digging past all the daily crap to find the one bright spot.So on Thanksgiving we are allowed to dig deep and find the one thing we do have — not focus on the 10 things we don’t.

There are things I don’t have this Thanksgiving that I had last year –my long hair, my left breast, and my mother. Tomorrow I won’t think about those things, I will concentrate on what I do have.  What I do have this Thanksgiving is a new awareness of how precious my life is and how amazing it feels to connect to people.  I feel that I have gained far more than I have lost in the past year and for that I am eternally thankful.  For all of you, my friends , who have been there to guide me and listen to me and hold my hand throughout this ordeal I am overwhelmingly grateful.  This Thanksgiving I will stop and realize how truly lucky we all are in one way or another, even though it may not feel that way on most days, and hopefully we can be a little like Oprah and continue to feel grateful all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving.