Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is always about food, football & mass texts regarding the 2.

After so many struggles this last year I've been able to take a step back. Deciding that instead of celebrating Thanksgiving for the binge eating and pig skin tossing over indulging tradition that it has become- I was simply going to give thanks.

Instead of sending hallow mass "Happy Thanksgiving" texts to every person in my phone like the 30 i'd received... I began going through my contacts and thinking about who has been influential this past year and why i'm grateful for them in my life. So often we keep our gratitude for our friends, family and aquaintances stored inside our minds and they never hear how much the little things they've done have made a difference.

There are always those stories where a smile, a hug or simply a hello have completely changed the course of an individuals life. Prevented a suicide... given hope... etc. so why do we keep our appreciation to ourselves? Dont we all like to receive acknowledgment and compliments? Not that we do the things we do for praise... but occasionally- its nice to hear that someone notices. :)

There were 10 people out of the 350+ contacts that received a special- individual message about how they have improved my life, how grateful i am and how much i appreciate being blessed with their presence in my life- whether its for a reason, a season or those that will be there for a lifetime.

Taking the time to truly stop and think about each person and their individual impact and to let them know how amazing they are was an incredible experience. Adding substance behind the holiday text fills your soul and makes the belly that much smaller ;)