Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.  Couple words said every year at this time as casually as “How are you?” and “Good morning”.   Some of our neighbors and friends have no trouble identifying both tangible and intangible rewards in their lives that make them appreciative.  Things like a happy and safe family, the birth of a new child, a promotion at work, a warm house, or a shiny car.  However, there are those among us who struggle more to find such largess in their own lives and deal with circumstances less able to draw from them the gratitude that success and comfort bring. 

Regardless of which category one might fall, I like to think that we can all find some place in our lives where at least the opportunity for thankfulness resides.  Perhaps it is not the complete success or windfall where we cannot help but accept our good fortune, but instead it is found among those smaller incidents in life that augur upswing or a chance for improvement.  A job interview you didn’t think you would get, a chance meeting with an old friend, a better diagnosis than the one we were imagining, a subtle  but growing confidence in our abilities, or even a yellow-light as we are rush somewhere late.  Those opportunities for a positive moment, sometimes in the face of difficult times, hopefully can lead to some small triumph on which we can build.  If I look at my life as a whole, I have been given much.  At our school, we are fortunate to have a wonderful staff of teachers working with a group of motivated young men and women who represent this community with pride.  However, at some point, all of us confront the defeats and tribulations that life apportions frequently and dispassionately.  It is in those moments that I hope we all find the strength to seek the seemingly inconsequential gifts  that remind us of our potential happiness and contentment.  To give thanks for only the “opportunity” of our success is to recognize the inherent difficulties of our lives while refusing not to acknowledge that we have been given the chance to pursue our happiness each and every day.

Have a wonderful holiday.