Thankful

The day before Thanksgiving was intense. In between seeing my students in the library, I was finishing a large paper for graduate school that was due in the afternoon. I worked through lunch and after school to complete it. I lost my patience with a first grade boy, who was running around the library.

By the end of the afternoon, I was drained. I cleared by desk, packed my bag, and was ready to start my holiday break. But the transition wasn’t smooth. I found myself feeling unsettled, angry, and a flood of negative emotions hit me as I got into my car.

I needed to reconnect with myself. I went to the swimming pool, but it was so crowded that I left. I drove to the market, but the parking lot was so crowded I left. Finally, I went to the park. I needed some open space. I needed to breath. I began walking, and reflecting on the last two weeks, on the pressure of the various school assignments, the ups and downs with my sleep cycle, and the rush of feelings over the loss of my father this past year. I was feeling empty, dissatisfied, discontent.

As I walked, I began to reflect on Thanksgiving, on the harvest, on abundance, on the importance of giving thanks. During the past couple of weeks, my students had made the most authentic drawings of the many things they were thankful for — pizza, family, brothers and sisters, soccer, strawberries, fish, electricity, their teachers, and much more.

As I walked, I began to list all the things I was grateful for. I said the words out loud, hearing my voice speak words and words of gratitude, until gratitude radiated from my body and filled the air around me. I became joyful, and I felt lighter, more at ease. The words of a nine-year old boy echoed in my heart, “I am thankful for my life.” Yes!

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, let us challenge ourselves to keep the gratitude growing in our lives, and to say thank you, again and again and again, to everything, to our joys, and to our sorrows, because all our experiences make up the abundance of our lives.