My Thanksgiving Gift – A Bit Early.

I’m sure some of you will have family shindigs to attend tomorrow, and others far braver than I will be engaging in that no-holds-barred warfare known as holiday shopping. So here’s my Thanksgiving salute to one and all, whether you celebrate it or not.

So many times, these posts plod over well-trodden ground. “Be thankful for your family. Be thankful for your health. Be thankful for what you have.” I wanted  do something a bit different, and also engage folks celebrating other holidays, and those outside the US as well.

A while back, I heard a phrase that has really stuck with me. “First World Crises”. Not major catastrophes, but those things that we take as huge annoyances in our lives. The crises of getting stuck in traffic or at the airport. The crisis of not getting that Black Friday purchase you wanted, or having to slog through web pages trying to find it. The crisis of having to actually sit with relatives, with whom you share nothing but blood. The crisis of having last year’s cellphone, of driving a used clunker car, of trying to cook the perfect holiday meal (for us in the US – gluttony is mandatory tomorrow!). We bitch and moan about these things as barriers to our true happiness.

No, I’m not gonna club you over the head with tales from post-typhoon Philippines, or post-supermarket-collapse Latvia, or the Hellish chaos that is engulfing Africa. I just want to give the gift of perspective. Yeah, getting stuck in traffic sucks, but you have a comfortable car to be stuck in, rather than pedaling a bicycle through the mud. Yeah, holiday shopping  is a huge pain in the butt, but you have a job to give you the money to get those goodies. You get the idea.

So,  please, take a moment to just …. live. Enjoy where you are, enjoy who you’re with, enjoy where you live. Because, trust me, you could be FAR worse off.

To all my readers, whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you all.