What I am thankful for-2012
I have not taken time, as is my practice, to look at what I wrote last year for Thanksgiving. I don’t want to be influenced by last year’s thoughts or sadness, if there was any. I want to start fresh and think today of all the things and people I am thankful for.
I will begin at home. I am thankful for my family. They are wonderful people. I have children who still love me and share their secrets with me. They like to run and play and when I come home from work two of them still run out of the front door and attack me in the driveway. Luckily they are smaller than me and can’t actually tackle me on the cement, but you know what I mean. My boy thinks I am a hero, my daughter thinks I know everything, and my oldest, though she is faster than me now, still likes to run with me on Saturday mornings when the team gives her the day off.
I am thankful for my wife. With all of our troubles she is a wonderful woman and loves me, and I love her.
I am thankful for my health. Unlike many others of my age, I am relatively trouble-free. Though I am not as young as I would like to think I am, I am young enough to enjoy the pleasures of eating, sleeping, fucking, and laughing. I pee when I want and only when I want, and when I need to, I still get hard without the use of medication.
I am glad that I can run. I love getting out in the morning, even when it is cold and dark, I love getting out and feeling the morning air on my face and the chill in my hands. I like watching the sun come up over the mountains to the west and hear the birds as they begin their day. I even like seeing the coyotes cross my paths as I run along the river. I don’t bother them, and so far, they don’t bother me. I love to be tired from a long run. I love to wake up sore the day after a good workout at the gym. And I love my gym. I love the women in spandex and the men who lift and the maintenance guy who gives me hot water, a cold pool, and a clean Jacuzzi. I like being around people who know the value of exercise. I love watching the old women putter through an aerobics class on the back row, laughing and giggling and sharing stories of their grandchildren. Many days they are more of an inspiration to me than the fittest aerobics instructor or beefiest weightlifter. I have said that I keep in shape so I can help my friends move, so that I can lift a box, or my corner of a piano. My body is to be used, enjoyed, and put into the service of others. As long as I am healthy enough to do that, I will be happy.
I love my friends. I can say that in a global sense without feeling any hesitation. Sometimes, when I want to say that to an individual, it gets weird. But there is a group of people who mean the world to me and I long to hold their hands stare them in the eye and say “I love you.” It may not mean that I want to marry you, or take you away from where you are at, or even be exclusive, but I do love you. I love having you in my life as a friend, sometimes as a lover, always as a great conversationalist, and someone who makes me smile when I see their name in my inbox, in the comments of the post, or just by thinking of you during the day. Some of you are close, some are very far away, and some of you are gone, that you make my life a wonderful and richer place. I am truly blessed by the Internet and the friendships it has brought me.
I am grateful to live in the United States of America. For all of our flaws, our infighting, our goofy election laws, and our tendency to be about 30 years behind the social curve, there is still nowhere I would rather be. (There are, of course, 5-6 bedrooms that are exempted from that statement.) I appreciate the freedom I feel as I watch the news and see others struggle for the most basic of rights. I appreciate my vote, though my preferred candidate does not always come out on top, I take pride in voting and supporting those who win. I did not vote for Barack Obama, but he is he is my president I will strive to help our country succeed while he is in office.
I am thankful for my job. I was richly blessed to be in a situation where being out of work was not too traumatic. Many others are not in the same situation and I realize that. I know that I was lucky and I am thankful for the time I had with my kids at home, a time to read, write, flirt, and play with friends at home and abroad. I am thankful to all those who sent me job ideas, words of encouragement, advice on my resume, and to those who just sent me good thoughts and kept me smiling on my darker days. I am thankful for the skills I have that allow me to work and make money. I am thankful for parents who taught me that it is okay to be smart, to work hard, and who appreciated the value of money. My father taught me how to save it, my mother taught me how to spend it, and together things turned out okay.
As Thanksgiving in the United States is upon us today I hope that all of you, everyone who reads this blog, leaves a comment, writes me email, or adds themselves as a follower (hint-hint), know that you bring something special to my life.
I am grateful for this chance to write and tell you all that though I complain, I am a grateful man.
I have not taken time, as is my practice, to look at what I wrote last year for Thanksgiving. I don’t want to be influenced by last year’s thoughts or sadness, if there was any. I want to start fresh and think today of all the things and people I am thankful for.
I will begin at home. I am thankful for my family. They are wonderful people. I have children who still love me and share their secrets with me. They like to run and play and when I come home from work two of them still run out of the front door and attack me in the driveway. Luckily they are smaller than me and can’t actually tackle me on the cement, but you know what I mean. My boy thinks I am a hero, my daughter thinks I know everything, and my oldest, though she is faster than me now, still likes to run with me on Saturday mornings when the team gives her the day off.
I am thankful for my wife. With all of our troubles she is a wonderful woman and loves me, and I love her.
I am thankful for my health. Unlike many others of my age, I am relatively trouble-free. Though I am not as young as I would like to think I am, I am young enough to enjoy the pleasures of eating, sleeping, fucking, and laughing. I pee when I want and only when I want, and when I need to, I still get hard without the use of medication.
I am glad that I can run. I love getting out in the morning, even when it is cold and dark, I love getting out and feeling the morning air on my face and the chill in my hands. I like watching the sun come up over the mountains to the west and hear the birds as they begin their day. I even like seeing the coyotes cross my paths as I run along the river. I don’t bother them, and so far, they don’t bother me. I love to be tired from a long run. I love to wake up sore the day after a good workout at the gym. And I love my gym. I love the women in spandex and the men who lift and the maintenance guy who gives me hot water, a cold pool, and a clean Jacuzzi. I like being around people who know the value of exercise. I love watching the old women putter through an aerobics class on the back row, laughing and giggling and sharing stories of their grandchildren. Many days they are more of an inspiration to me than the fittest aerobics instructor or beefiest weightlifter. I have said that I keep in shape so I can help my friends move, so that I can lift a box, or my corner of a piano. My body is to be used, enjoyed, and put into the service of others. As long as I am healthy enough to do that, I will be happy.
I love my friends. I can say that in a global sense without feeling any hesitation. Sometimes, when I want to say that to an individual, it gets weird. But there is a group of people who mean the world to me and I long to hold their hands stare them in the eye and say “I love you.” It may not mean that I want to marry you, or take you away from where you are at, or even be exclusive, but I do love you. I love having you in my life as a friend, sometimes as a lover, always as a great conversationalist, and someone who makes me smile when I see their name in my inbox, in the comments of the post, or just by thinking of you during the day. Some of you are close, some are very far away, and some of you are gone, that you make my life a wonderful and richer place. I am truly blessed by the Internet and the friendships it has brought me.
I am grateful to live in the United States of America. For all of our flaws, our infighting, our goofy election laws, and our tendency to be about 30 years behind the social curve, there is still nowhere I would rather be. (There are, of course, 5-6 bedrooms that are exempted from that statement.) I appreciate the freedom I feel as I watch the news and see others struggle for the most basic of rights. I appreciate my vote, though my preferred candidate does not always come out on top, I take pride in voting and supporting those who win. I did not vote for Barack Obama, but he is he is my president I will strive to help our country succeed while he is in office.
I am thankful for my job. I was richly blessed to be in a situation where being out of work was not too traumatic. Many others are not in the same situation and I realize that. I know that I was lucky and I am thankful for the time I had with my kids at home, a time to read, write, flirt, and play with friends at home and abroad. I am thankful to all those who sent me job ideas, words of encouragement, advice on my resume, and to those who just sent me good thoughts and kept me smiling on my darker days. I am thankful for the skills I have that allow me to work and make money. I am thankful for parents who taught me that it is okay to be smart, to work hard, and who appreciated the value of money. My father taught me how to save it, my mother taught me how to spend it, and together things turned out okay.
As Thanksgiving in the United States is upon us today I hope that all of you, everyone who reads this blog, leaves a comment, writes me email, or adds themselves as a follower (hint-hint), know that you bring something special to my life.
I am grateful for this chance to write and tell you all that though I complain, I am a grateful man.
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