Thanksgiving is a time of being around close family and friends, enjoying each others company, while we stuff our faces with stuffing. But thanksgiving is also a time to be thankful. A time to be thankful that you have a place to call home, a family to love, and food to fill your bellies. So, while you are traveling back home for your Thanksgiving break, just try to be thankful for the little things before you dig into your holiday festivities.
1. Your family, of course.
Whether your parents are together or not, you have one to ten siblings, all or one of your grandparents, just be thankful that you have them there to call family. You may forget sometimes when you're busy with all your school work and friend drama that you have people that would do anything for you and will always love you no matter what. So when you get home, just give them all a hug and thank them for all they do for you. And don't forget to say "I love you."
2. Your friends.
When was the last time you thanked your friends for always being there? Yeah, it might seem awkward to just thank them out of the blue, but everyone likes knowing they're appreciated and needed. And your friends should absolutely know that, because if they weren't there for you to listen to your problems, have movie nights with, or get breakfast lunch or dinner with, then who would be?
3. A roof over your head.
You can't really appreciate having a place to sleep every night if you've always had one, but some people wake up not knowing where they'll sleep the next night. So we should be thankful we have a place to come back to every night to sleep in, your home, where ever it may be.
4. Starry Nights.
People don't take advantage of the simple beauty of the midnight sky filled with the little-illuminated dots we call stars. At the end of any hard day, I look forward to having my mind get lost in the stars. They're like little fairies that flutter through the midnight sky. So after your Thanksgiving meal, have your family throw on their jackets and go outside to look at the star filled night sky.
5. The food you eat.
People are always making the saying that "people are starving in Africa," but you never really think about it because it's so overused. But it's true. We don't think about how accessible food is because it's right in our kitchen or in the dining hall. But there are people who barely fill their children's bellies, so just say thank you for the food to whoever serves you food next and be thankful for what you get.
6. The clouds.
Something I love to do when in the passenger seat of the car is to look at the cloud patterns in the sky. There is something so simple and beautiful about how clouds can make these patterns and it's all natural. It's something you can look at and people can never take away from you.
7. Electricity.
Imagine you are in the middle of a storm and your lights are flickering on and off until they all finally just shut off. What do you do automatically? Try to find the flashlights you stored away in case this ever happened. We all rely on electricity for light, charging our phones, watching our favorite shows/movies or the news, and now even to power our cars, that we don't appreciate it until its gone. And even then, we try to find our flashlights that use the battery version of electricity. So next time you leave your room, try to remember to turn off all the lights because its good to conserve, and someone else could be using it who needs it.
8. Computers, phones, cameras.
Can you imagine the world without computers? We wouldn't have the internet. GASP! Can you imagine the world without phones? We wouldn't be able to text our crush or FaceTime our pets while at college. GASP GASP! Can you imagine the world without cameras? We couldn't take pictures of holding our child for the first time or on your wedding day. GASP GASP GASP!
9. The ability to hear, see and talk.
This is nothing big, just the idea that if you couldn't smell, you couldn't smell roses or your crushes' cologne/perfume. If you couldn't see, you wouldn't be able to see your family, your spouse at the front/end of the aisle on your wedding day, or your handsome/beautiful self. If you couldn't talk, you wouldn't be able to tell people that you love them.
10. The clothes you wear.
I don't think about this enough. I will say "ugh, I have nothing to wear," when I have more than I could ever need, and I need to just be thankful for it all. I am blessed to have more than one color of boots, dresses for every occasion, and normal to fuzzy socks. So next time you go shopping with your mom or whoever is paying, remember to thank them for clothing you or buying you clothes (since "Thanks for clothing me" sounds a bit weird).
11. Laughter.
Remember all those times you were in your room with your best friends, just laughing at the stupid choices you made that day, or how you said "dude" to your crush on your way to class. Me too, embarrassingly. But the best part of it is that you get to share the simpleness of laughing till your non-existing abs come out with those who laugh with you in those moments. Oh, who are we kidding, they're all laughing AT you. But so are you, and it's the best.
12. Your education.
We are all so blessed as college students getting a higher education than more than 70% of the World Population. Whether you have a family who is financially stable enough to pay for your education, or your paying for it with your own money or through scholarships, we are all here in the same classes, learning many things that we wouldn't have learned otherwise unless we were here.
13. You're alive and living.
Take a deep breath and look around you. You are able to breathe. You are living a beautiful life, whether you've had a bad day or not. You have family, friends, a roof, stars, food, clouds, clothes, laughter, an education, and so much more.
Be thankful for the life that you have.
