Verified by 
I wanted to write a light, uplifting, even funny blog for Thanksgiving this year, but yesterday afternoon, after a week of intensive anxiety, extensive tests and results, one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with a very serious cancer. Since hearing the news, I've been drifting back and forth from shock and denial into sadness and depression, and yes, anger, too. My husband and I spent last evening at home, processing our feelings and talking about and researching her condition. Weighted down by all of it, we decided to watch a few TV shows we'd taped. Always good for at least one laugh, we watched Modern Family, and enjoyed it, but it was the last segment of Sunday's 60 MINUTES that did the most to lift my spirits. Leslie Stahl interviewed Taylor Swift, and toward the end of the interview Taylor Swift actually said that she knows that her success in the entertainment world of teenagers is a responsibility - she knows that she's helping to raise the next generation. "Finally, a singer/songwriter who understands her power over teens and pre-teens!" I exclaimed. "Thank God!" And there it was: gratitude; genuine, heartfelt gratitude. I had found it, and could begin to write this blog - not a funny one, for sure, and not a long one - but a small, honest contribution to the holiday, for you, my readers, for whom I am grateful.
The authors of this month's Harvard Mental Health Letter discuss the benefits of gratitude(http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2011/November/in-praise-of-gratitude). They explain that appreciation for what we receive, whether tangible of intangible, keeps us aware of the goodness in our lives, helps us to feel more positive emotions, improves our health, and connects us to something greater than ourselves. Taking time to express gratitude to our partners not only helps us to feel more positive toward them, but also makes us more comfortable expressing concerns about the relationship. The authors also suggest behaviors that can help one to cultivate an attitude of appreciation: write a thank you note, thank someone mentally, keep a gratitude journal, pray, meditate, count your blessings.
My grandmother often told me to count my blessings. She also taught me to pray from time to time during the day. Yes, she was a prayerful person, but she also knew how to have fun and had a great sense of humor. "The first hundred years are the hardest," was one of her favorite expressions. Now I use it when my friends and I are bemoaning our aches and pains, and it always brings a smile.
Each time I think of the word smile, I think of my own grandchildren, whom I, too, teach to pray from time to time. There is a lovely book I came across several years ago that is a perfect prayer for Thanksgiving: Grateful: A Song of Giving Thanks, by John Bucchino, illustrated by Anna-Liisa Hakkarainen, with an enclosed CD of the original recording by Art Garfunkel. I've listened to that CD many times over the years and always enjoyed singing along. It's helped me to celebrate the good in my life; it's helped me to keep a healthy perspective.
In closing, I'd like to share with you a few lines from a lovely little book entitled Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living by John McQuiston II (p. 19,20)
At the beginning of each day,
after we open our eyes
to receive the light
of that day,
We listen to the voices
and sounds
that surround us,
We must resolve to treat each hour
as the rarest of gifts,
and be grateful
for the consciousness
that allows us to experience it,
recalling in thanks
that our awarenss is a present
from we know not where,
or how, or why...
Happy Thanksgiving!
