This morning I was over on WriteOn for a few minutes and one of the moderators asked us to post why we're thankful and, as always, there is much to appreciate.
Family
Friends
Health
Home
Job
Enough to eat
Clothes to wear
Coffee in the morning and a bed at night
My cat
My car
My writing and the simple pleasure I get from life.
I have a lot to give thanks for today, yesterday, tomorrow, next week and every day. Even when Life steps in and throws a spanner into the works, tossing me things that aren't fun or nice or easy I can always find something for which to say thanks. All it takes is practice and determination. That's why I call it picking flowers among the rubble.
When life collapses around my ears, as it does from time to time, there's rubble - a debris field that is sized based on the scope of the calamity. But even then, even among that debris, there are bright spots. It just takes practice to find them.
I know that in some ways, to some people, I'm "lucky". No. Not really. I've worked hard for what I have.
I have a house that's in desperate need of repair. On our block we are the decrepit place everyone else shakes their head over. But it is a house. It stands upright and does what it's supposed to do.
Now, would I like to fix it up? Hell yeah! Hubby doesn't, and that's the sticking point.
If I had my way we would throw money into it - and he promises we will, "someday". Unfortunately for him, after thirty-four years of marriage when he says "someday" I know it's really "never-ever-ever-ever-ever-not on your life!" So the house will probably reach a point where it collapses under its own weight before he does anything. But, for the time being, it is standing and it is doing what it's supposed to do for us.
I drive an older car. A 2005 model with more than 130,000 miles on the odometer. It gets me where I need to go. I maintain it, and it does what it's supposed to do, so it's okay.
My family is limited and shrinking, but I am not looking at that. I am looking forward. Sometimes that's the best thing to do. Sometimes that's the only thing to do.
Those who know me know that I do not live a charmed life. I have shared some of my "stuff" with people I trust, and it's those people who I rely on to provide a silver lining when things are bleak. Even if they don't know or appreciate it directly, just the fact that they're there and I can share some of the weight of the not-so-happy things with them is a huge help.
So my house isn't something out of Home Beautiful or Architectural Digest and I have some other not-so-great stuff in my life.
I like my job. It's a good job with a good deal of variety. It's not overly taxing. I'm not taking worries and cares home with me when I leave at night. I'm not in a position where I'm going to get a 2:00 am phone call that something went wrong and I have to get up and come in. I earn enough to keep myself away from the precipice of unpaid bills and past due invoices. It will never make me rich, but it's enough, and that's good because it's all I need.
There's a key right there: how much do you need? It's not how much do I or you or anyone else want, because we all want stuff.
I want to be paid more for what I do. Unfortunately, what I do doesn't have the value to the company for which I work to justify the gap between what I earn and what I want to earn.
I want to drive a newer car, one with fewer miles and more gadgets. The car that I have is perfectly adequate to the job, though. It gets me from here to there and back again safely, so why do I need more than that?
I want my house to be nicer, to be painted with new siding and a new roof, new carpet and new furniture, new window coverings (NOT BLINDS!!!) and new paint. Do I need those things? No. I have walls that are painted and carpet on the floor and furniture to sit on and all of the fundamentals.
It's a matter of separating Want from Need and identifying the fulfilled needs and being grateful for that. That's where I come from, anyway.
To some people the Want is bigger than the Have that fulfills the Need, and I think that's why people are unhappy.
Some people genuinely don't have what they need, even the basics, and that's where the rubber really hits the road. That's where the rest of us have to step in, to offer up the extras in our lives to those people who truly don't have wants because their needs loom so large.
Even I have extras in my life. There aren't many of them, but I have some and those my hubby and I will give up.
We donate a few times a year. Not much, but some. Right now, for instance, we have a garage full of toys and some clothes and books and some other things. They're not really necessities because we're using the necessities ourselves, but they're extras and if the Goodwill or Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul Society can use them, sell them and earn some money to do something for someone else, that's all good.
So I think it's a good question. What are you thankful for today? Do you have what you need or are you too focused on what you want to appreciate what you have?
Me? I'm happy, thank you. And grateful because I have what I need and I'm pretty much satisfied with that. I hope you are, too.
Have a lovely day.
Best~
Philippa
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