Last night, I went to sleep, grateful that I had the following day off. It's a rare and beautiful thing to get a full Wednesday off before Thanksgiving and I embraced it with gratitude. So much gratitude that in fact, my intention was to make a list the following morning, after sleeping in a bit, of all of the things in my life that I was grateful for. I slept into the 7 am hour like a champion, snoozing away, happy as can be, but as I turned the corner towards 7:30, my phone rang. It was my mom. I immediately assumed that something was wrong. I thought about all the worst case scenarios, contemplating what horror could warrant such an early wake-up call. After a concerned, disgruntled breath, I answered the phone to hear the innocuous rattling of lipstick, the rustling of receipts and my mom yammering on about canned cranberries. I had been pocket (actually purse) dialed.... at 7:30am... by my Mom.... On my first Wednesday off in ages. My concern for the well-being of my family members diffused into annoyance.
I hrumphed my way back under the covers and attempted to go to sleep to little avail. Suddenly, I was awake in my apartment, early in the morning without agenda. The sun was rising and the air in my apartment was crisp. Traffic had yet to pick up outside and without the morning clock, ticking towards work time (which is later than most peoples.... Thankfully). I felt an overwhelming peace. I didn't bother calling my mom back because I was so content in the quietude that was this morning. In this quietude, I was able to access many things that I was grateful for. The list however, because of the extra hour that my morning had accrued, was able to extend deeper into the realm of my life.
I contemplated my appreciation for the usual things. Friends, family, my job, etc., but I couldn't stop thinking about that pocket dial. I was so annoyed that I had been disturbed from my beauty sleep, and here I was suddenly grateful for what was a thorn in my side for allowing me to have this wonderful morning. I began to think of all of the other things in my life that annoy me, but that ultimately I am grateful for.
Despite traffic, traffic tickets, slow drivers, reckless drivers, road rage, trash in the road, road hogs, people asleep in the road, and roads named after people that make you mad, people talking on their phone while driving, at least we have roads, so today, I'm thankful for roads. Despite fast food, bad food, food that isn't organic, food that comes from animals who were wrongly killed, long lines at the store to get food, food that is burnt, under-cooked, under-seasoned, and underwhelming, food that is over-seasoned, over priced, and overwhelming... today, I am grateful that there is food. Despite death metal, I'm glad there is music. Despite deforestation, I'm glad that there are still forests at all and I'm grateful for the growing global awareness to protect them. Despite racism, I'm thankful for the great leaps of the last 150 years. Despite all the hate has come from the differences of faiths and religion, I am thankful for God and despite people that talk too loud in public places on cell phones, I'm glad we've got ways to communicate with our loved ones in a world that supports travel, relocation because of the pursuit of dreams, adventure... even that means because of that technology, I'm accidentally woken up at 7:30 on my day off. Thanks Mom!
Happy thanksgiving y'all!
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