Here we are into Thanksgiving weekend during a pandemic that has left some of us wondering what we have in our lives to be thankful for. Sometimes, when things around us seem bleak it’s difficult to see that silver lining. There’s been a lot of talk about silver linings these past months and it’s a good thing. Hope is the very thing that keeps us going, day in and day out, even when some of those times seem nearly hopeless. Silver linings are all around us, but we need to pay attention and keep our eyes open at all times.
FYI: If you’re interested in reading stories of gratitude, why not check out Janice Landry’s book: Silver Linings: Stories of Gratitude, Resiliency and Growth Through Adversity
What I began to notice, when the lockdown started was that many people were finding their way to my blog and I started to get hits every day, and continue to get hits, on the Thanksgiving Day post I wrote last year– Another Day to be Thankful. And, to me, that says something positive about us as humans.
People want to feel hope. It’s a natural thing, even when despair creeps in from time to time. I’m sure we have all been discouraged, especially these past months. I know I have, but I have learned that no one can pick me up out of that despair but me. It comes from within, not from an outside source. We are all a WIP, a term we writers use meaning “a work in progress” but, so too, is it true when it comes to our lives. People who have overcome adversity did not do it through lack of hope. That would be impossible.
I’m encouraged by so many of the uplifting post I see on social media these days. Many people are working hard to help themselves and others through these challenging times. I keep reminding myself that if someone turns their own despair and hopeless outward they are going to seem quite crabby and discontent. They are the ones who are posting much of the negativity we see out there. BUT we have a choice to see the lightness or the darkness in any situation. It is all in how we choose to look at things. We have that power within us to turn things around. We just do.
I’ll leave you with this thanksgiving quote. Have a Happy COVID Thanksgiving Day to my Canadian friends :
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Laura Best 