Being Thankful

I went to a Benedictine (Catholic) college. The college shared property with a monastery and it wasn't uncommon to have a nun as a professor. One day, in the class that was supposed to be prepping us for a J-term in Rome, the Father who was teaching the class asked a nun who had recently visited Italy to come speak with us. For whatever reason, we got on the topic of prayer.

"What's the most common prayer?" the nun asked. We all looked at each other. Umm, the Lord's Prayer? The nun cleared her throat. "When we pray, we're usually asking God for something," she explained. "Every once in a while, it's nice to say a prayer that just says 'thank you.'"

It is, isn't it?

Whether you're talking to the man upstairs or whether you're b.s.ing with a friend, sometimes we just need to stop the ongoing, droning monologue about everything we wish we had and step back and realize what we already have. If we don't take a minute to say "thank you" we risk going through life with blinders on and missing the big picture.

So today, I'm saying thank you. Not just because it 'tis the season, but because, truly, I have so many things to be grateful for.

I'm thankful to share my life with a funny, talented, thoughtful man. After more than three years together - two+ spent living together - it's hard to imagine life without my partner in crime: Andy.

I'm thankful to live in a beautiful part of the country, in a lovely little cabin on the edge of a gorgeous lake. (Sorry about all those adjectives.) Seriously, day, every season here in the woods brings something new to marvel at.

I'm thankful for self-sufficiency, for being able to stock our shelves and line our freezers with food we've picked, grown, or hunted. On a similar note, I'm thankful for no credit card debt and limited student loans, which allow us to carve out a simple life all our own. I'm thankful for enough to go around. I'm thankful to have a degree.

I'm thankful for more than enough firewood to keep us warm during the long, dark winter that's nearly upon us.

I'm thankful for enough time for hobbies, be it gardening, knitting, canning, berry picking, writing, or what have you. I'm thank to be able to use my writing as an income source. I'm thankful to have a contract sitting on my desk for employment next summer.

I'm thankful for wonderful and slightly ridiculous friends who remain an important part of my life, even when the miles between us are long. I'm thankful I'm still invited to be a part of these people's lives. I'm thankful for laughter. I'm thankful for the sense of community blogging has created in my life.

I'm thankful to be able to watch things grow. 

I'm thankful for family nearby to provide support, and occasionally, a bed to sleep in. 

I'm thankful for much more, but I wanted to end this before you were thankful that I'd run out of things to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season? I'm linking up with the "Give Thanks Party" over at Ashley's, After Nine to Five.