What Are You Thankful For?

Sometimes we have to plan a few weeks ahead to get our work done, don't we? If you're like me and I don't plan ahead, then it just doesn't get done.
Today I had November on my mind, and November usually makes me think of Thanksgiving and whatever I should be thankful for. In order to get my brain working in that direction, I checked out several websites and blogs to see what people were writing about in terms of being thankful.
My goodness! One person had a blog with 50 things they were thankful for! It included snow covered mountains, iPhones and iPods, and dishwashers. All of which I do not partake. If it has snow on it, then I'm not far enough South. If it has an "i" in front of it, then I leave it alone. And my dishwasher...well, it's used for
storage.
Several bloggers listed 10 things they were thankful for! That's more my number, too. One blogger included makeup, self defense, and cable TV. Those were all things I could relate to. The makeup made me think of my mother. She used to say (to us women) that you need to "put your face on in the morning so you don't make the world feel as bad as you look." As for self defense, my husband taught me and my daughter a good deal about self defense (for which we are thankful). And cable TV...well, I usually like it, but feel I could live without it most of the time.
Some of the bloggers wrote thoughtful things they were thankful for. Such as "the soldiers at war, in my place," and "time...don't take it for granted," and "that I live in the USA." I especially admired the blogger who said he was thankful "that my adolescent runaway is home," and the woman who said "a warm roof over my head, plenty of food, good books, in remission, and seven cats."
One blogger mentioned being thankful for libraries; another was thankful for a good novel. Many people were thankful for the same basic things: family, friends, health. Several were thankful for our president, religion, and peace of mind. I even saw bloggers who were thankful for "my writing career," blogging, and the
Internet.
I had to laugh at those who were thankful for coffee, chocolate, and air conditioning on a hot day. Those are my kind of people! Also the ones who were thankful for fresh fruit, red wine, and peanut
butter.
November is coming and it's never too early to plan ahead for the upcoming events. Just imagine starting on November 1st and writing down one thing you're thankful for each day until Thanksgiving Day. You'd have what...25 things you could list? Then on Thanksgiving Day you could read them all, while you're celebrating with that big turkey and dressing, or whatever traditional food you're
having.
However, since I started writing this blog today, I've also started my "thankful" list. I have 12 things on it so far. Guess you could say I have a jump on November 1st.
So. What are you thankful for?

Something To Leave You With

We will be closed for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, December 20th through January 2nd. But we'll be back with doors open at the regular time on Thursday, January 3rd. That's 2008, you know. And we'll have another hard time dating our checks right for a while. Well, those of us who still use checks, anyhow.
So, I wanted to leave you today with something I've been thinking about.
Do you remember the time people talked about wanting a "kinder and gentler" world? Wasn't the first President Bush one of the people who talked about that? Well, that's what I want to talk about today.
For some reason, when I thought of Christmas and the beginning of a new year and a kinder, gentler world, the word gratitude popped into my head. I looked up the word gratitude online. I found that Wikipedia says, "Gratitude, appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive."
On another website, I read: "The art of cultivating gratitude -- it's not just about making a list." And that's the line that grabbed my attention.
At this particular Christmas-time, my children are all off in their own areas of the big United States; some married and some not, some with children and some not, some apart from each other for a time-being. They are like me, just doing the best they can. And it's because of this that I feel thankful they are doing all right in their lives. Just as I am. So, at this Christmas-time, I am cultivating my art of gratitude by thanking the Lord that He has blessed me so greatly in 2007 and, I know, will continue to bless me in 2008.
That brings us to the new year. Like the earlier saying said: It's not just about making a list. But I've decided I want to make a list! Oh, not the same old kind of list I usually make; that "resolution" list 1) to lose weight, 2) clean out my closets, 3) write to my brother more, etc., etc., etc. No, when New Year's Day comes, I will be sitting at my table, pen in hand, writing down what I'm thankful for.
Of course, I'm always glad I have this job. It's pure joy! And I'm glad my old car continues to run and I have my health, and my family is doing all right, etc., etc., etc. On one website I read this is called a Level 1 Gratitude.
But I really wanted to leave you with something more to think about. I wanted to move us to a Level 2, which encompasses everything in Level 1, but goes beyond that to include being grateful for things like 1) our lives, 2) our problems, challenges and hardships (yes! even those!), 3) the people who treat us unkindly or unfairly, 4) our freedom of choice, etc., etc., etc.
As I thought about that last item and the feeling of how wonderful it is to exist, I remembered our Armed Forces; those great men and women all around the world who are making it possible for us to have a freedom of choice. Then I also thought of all those kind and wondeful people who give up their Christmas and New Year's time with friends and family right here in the United States -- the firemen/women and policemen/women and hospital workers, etc., etc., etc., who are there for us at times when we fear we have lost our freedom of choice.
There's lots more to say a prayer of gratitude for, such as 1) time and space, 2) thoughts and emotions, 3) ideas and concepts, and 4) the whole universe.
I guess that's one reason why I'm writing this. To tell you I have something to leave you with: I'm so thankful you are in my universe and that you're here to read this blog. Thankful that you've taken the time to read about our fabulous library and the staff members who work here. Out there in cyberspace, where my words fly around, I often think of you reading this blog. Sometimes I hear you laugh. Sometimes I feel you scratch your head in wonder at what I'm talking about. But always I feel your presence.
And with that gratitude, I wish you a merry Christmas, happy holiday season, and a prosperous new year. All of us here at the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library do.
Won't 2008 be great??? Let's make it a kinder, gentler world. It's our freedom of choice, isn't it?