Thanksgiving is coming up and you know what that means: a flood of Facebook statuses with people professing what they're thankful for this year. Okay, seriously though: Thanksgiving Day is a time of gratitude, family, amazing food, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. While you're heading home for the holiday and getting excited to see your old high school friends, think about these often-forgotten things to be thankful for.
Your Health
Millions of people, worldwide, struggle with a variety of diseases and conditions every day of their lives- some of them are even life threatening. Many of us, on the other hand, are lucky enough to have a fully functioning body and mind.
Never take your good health for granted and always, no matter what, take care of yourself. If that means taking a day off from classes or work to get over a cold and stay in bed, so be it. Your body is what keeps you going every day. Take care of it while you still can. There are many people out there, young and old, who wish they could take care of themselves.
Your College Education
If you are 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree in the U.S., you are part of the 30% of native-born citizens with a college education. You have what the majority of native-born citizens in the country don’t have. I am so incredibly lucky to be attending college, let alone The George Washington University.
No amount of words can explain the gratitude I have for my parents for letting me attend such a prestigious university at a high cost. No matter what college you went to, or are currently attending, you have an advantage over hundreds of thousands people in the United States, in terms of job opportunities, connections, knowledge and more. Sure, the work in college sucks sometimes, and I'm sure 99% of us have questioned why we're here or contemplated dropping out, but think about not only the knowledge you are acquiring, but the lessons outside the classroom that you are learning too that will help you in the future: time management, prioritizing, working with others, networking and so much more.
Now, I’m not saying that you have to go to college to acquire these skills and that the only way you are going to better your future is by attending college. There are so many happy, successful people out there without a bachelor’s degree. I’m just saying that if you have the opportunity to attend college, be thankful for it, for someone else is wishing they could.
Your Resources
Clean air, gas, heat, medicine, Internet, a reservoir that provides clean drinking water- these are all resources that we don't think about being thankful for. With all the technology and medicine that we have in this country, we have been able to treat so many diseases that other countries can't.
We are able to cure headaches and the common cold so quickly and easily, while people on the other side of the world may be dying from them. Also, have you ever thought about how much of the world actually has connection to the Internet- something that most of use, usually for our own entertainment, almost every day of our lives?
Only about 40% of the world has Internet connection. Less than half the world population can use Google to look up their favorite cheesecake recipes, see where the nearest supermarket is, or get directions to places. Everything we need to know is, at most, 2 clicks away on a computer, iPad, iPhone, tablet or anything else that can connect to the Internet. Imagine what life would be like if we couldn't Google every little thing we need to know in any given moment.
Your Family
I know that this is so cliché, but come on. You can never be too thankful for family. First, no one realizes how much knowledge and wisdom their elders, even their parents, have. They have experienced so much more of life than you have, and can help you avoid potentially disastrous situations.
Second, family provides so much support and comfort. They're there to listen to you when no one else is. No seriously: when I got a horrible case of the flu for the first time my sophomore year of college, I called my mom at 1 AM hysterically crying (since my roommate was asleep) because I was in so much pain, had a 104 degree fever and didn't know what else to do besides take NyQuil and drink tea. That being said, family goes above and beyond for each other.
My mom took a 6:30 AM Acela to DC that morning, got a hotel room for me for a week and took care of me. If that's not worthy of the “Best Mom” Award, then I don't know what is. Third, you can be totally yourself and your family won’t judge you. If that means doing weird things and laughing at jokes that aren’t really funny, so be it. I mean, they might judge you a little, but they (probably) won’t say anything. Shout-out to my parents for not judging me when I was younger for putting ketchup in my rice, or when my sister and me randomly laugh about the stupidest things for the longest times. Disclaimer: my sister and I think our 13-year-old pug looks like our dad, so we put their pictures next to each other and laughed about it for 20 minutes.
That being said, I'm especially thankful for my sister. My sister is my confidant, partner in crime, stylist, and best friend. Siblings are special because they share your life and have their own, so you can really talk to them about anything. You also always have someone to get food with. If you’re REALLY lucky (and about the same size), you can raid each other’s closets if you have nothing to wear.
Your Friends
Everyone knows what friends are for, so I won't bore you with the cliché details, but here's a (somewhat) different take on why you should be thankful for friends. For the things we may not be able to talk to our parents about, friends are there to listen, provide support and give advice. Friends may even be better to talk to than parents or other family members.
A generation makes a huge difference. We, as millennials, understand a totally different culture than our parents do. We live in a culture of hooking-up and self-expression, something our grandparents and parents don't understand as well as we do, which is why friends can be better at giving advice for certain situations that we face today.
