Thanksgiving is coming up in three weeks (where does the time go?) and this weekend summer seems to be getting its last kick at the can before the fall equinox Monday. Given that I am feeling mildly wiped out from a cold masking as allergies, or allergies masking as a cold, I began this day searching my mental rolodex for some things to be thankful for. You know, while out walking today I came up with One Hundred things to be thankful for? And I feel pretty good now, if a little under the weather. In therapy and recovery circles where I work and sometimes inhabit there is a tendency these days to encourage people to be thankful, to have gratitude even if they do not believe in God (no matter how we conceive her to be) that it is going to be good for their mental health. And, sorry to any atheists who might happen to be reading this right now but there is also something about the act of thanksgiving, of having gratitude, that summons God forth from the shadows to which we usually exile him and then he becomes more present and shelters us beneath the shadow of his wings.
This is a very personal list. I am not going to try for something generic or proscriptive as that could come across as sanctimonious hectoring and I do that enough already in other parts of this damn blog. So here goes....
I am thankful for:
1. being alive
2. the pleasure of breathing
3. that I can see
4, for the pleasure of colour
5. that I can hear
6. for the pleasure of music
7. for the pleasure of birdsong
8. for the pleasure of the sound of the wind in the leaves
9. for the sound of the surf
10. for the ability to hear others speak
11. for my voice
12. that I can speak forth my thoughts
13. for the pleasure of singing
14. for the pleasure of laughter
15. for the ability to taste good food and good drink
16. for the sense of smell
17. for the tactile feel through my fingertips
18. for my mind
19. for my imagination
20. for memory
21. for the ability to work things out in a logical rational order
22. for good mental health
23 for the ability to walk
24 for the pleasure of long walks
25 for the easy natural exercise of walking
26 for good robust health
27 for the availability for free and accessible health care
28 for the many technological advances in health care
29 for the huge advances in good mental health care
30 for human rights
31 that I live in a country where almost all the fundamental human rights are respected and upheld
32 for freedom
33 that even though our rights and freedoms can be fragile we are able to work and fight to preserve and improve them
34 for political freedom
35 for religious freedom
36 for freedom of thought and expression
37 for art
38 for my artistic abilities and achievements
39 for the public art and murals in this city
40 for the rich diversity of people, cultures and ethnicities and languages in this city
41 for my ability to speak another language (Spanish) besides English
42 for the ability to learn
43 for the opportunity to learn
44 for the availability of education
45 for free online university education
46 for Coursera
47 that I am already well into my second free university course through Coursera, Latin American Culture.
48 that I successfully finished and passed a university course through Coursera about gender studies given by the Autonomous University of Barcelona
49 that I was able to successfully complete and pass this course which was all in Spanish
50 for our library system and services in Vancouver
51 that the public library is free
52 that it is incredibly full of books and information
53 for the many other resources and services provided by the Vancouver Public Library
54 for the free public internet at the VPL and how much that helped me for almost ten years before I got home internet
55 for home internet
56 for the nice laptop I got for an extra fifteen dollars a month on my Telus bill.
57 that it's been paid for for more than a year
58 that it still works
59 for the owners and staff of Downtown Computer and the reasonably priced services they offered repairing my laptop and their generous help and instructions to prevent me from destroying my computer
60 for the many things that having home internet have opened up for me and enriched my life
61 that through email and Skype I am able to meet people and maintain friendships of quality with people who live all over the world
62 for how easy the internet makes keeping in touch with my friends close to home
63 for the friends I have been blessed with
64 for the blessing of being a friend
65 that I have a job
66 that I enjoy my work
67 that my profession is completely compatible with my personal values
68 that I am always learning new things at work
69 that I am always growing through my profession
70 that my work of offering support to people struggling towards mental health recovery is doing much to teach me how to be a good friend and a better person
71 for my budgeting skills
72 that despite my low income I am able to save money
73 that I am able to afford a decent quality of life
74 that I can afford to go on foreign vacations for a month or longer every year
75 for the way my foreign travels are broadening my mind and my world view
76 that I have a home
77 that I can afford my rent
78 for my landlords, BC Housing
79 for More Than a Roof, the housing society that manages my building, for their support, kindness, professionalism, love and prayers
80 that I am still able to live in Vancouver, my home city and the most expensive city to live in North America
81 that although I live on Granville Street my apartment is quiet
82 that I am centrally located where I live
83 for the natural beauty of Vancouver
84 for the many trees
85 for the many flowers and gardens
86 for the forests
87 for the mountains
88 for the ocean
89 for Stanley Park
90 for Pacific Spirit Park
91 for the many diverse, interesting and beautiful neighbourhoods in this city and the pleasure of taking long walks through them
92 for the big book sale at the library today and yesterday
93 for the great deal I had yesterday and today there, purchasing twelve great Spanish books for all of four dollars and fifty cents.
94 for my personal library at home
95 for my big Spanish library at home
96 for this blog
97 for the readers of this blog
98 for the kindness of strangers
99 for the kindness of staff today at my neighbourhood Shoppers Drug Mart and yesterday of the two bus riders who prevented me from falling when the bus jerked to a sudden stop
100 for the joy of giving thanks.
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