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Whether we see a glass half full or half empty is said to determine in part our outlook on life. Seeing the glass half empty means you lean more toward looking at life’s situation with a pessimistic frame of mind. However, seeing the glass half full means you have a more optimistic look out on life. I tend to look at the glass half full. Even though lately there are things in my life that are not exactly as I would have them, I tend to focus on the positive.
This Thursday here in the United States many households will celebrate Thanksgiving. Our neighbors to the north, Canada celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on the 2nd Monday of October. However, for those in the United States it is celebrated the 4th Thursday of November. There are different variations on the history of the holiday but much of the past tradition surrounds being thankful for a bountiful harvest prior to beginning of winter.
Among many of my friends and associates there is some contention regarding Thanksgiving because of much unfair treatment regarding Native Americans. This includes massacres as well as breaking of treaties and the illegal taking of land. When I was a child, I always wanted to be the Indian now knowing better I say Native American. Within my family there is a documented ancestral connection to the Choctaw tribe, I am still educating myself about the indigenous people of the North American continent. So for me I have mixed feelings when remembering the history behind Thanksgiving. However, being the optimist that I am, I tend to focus on the thankful part of the holiday.
Around the table we are often asked “what are we thankful for this year”. This year started with me being unemployed, my mother being hospitalized, and getting hospice assistance for my grandmother. I subsequently gained employment after being unemployed for a little over seven months. Life seemed to be looking up until the death of my mother prior to the Easter holiday and my grandmother a few weeks after the Mother’s Day weekend. Even with these very sad and hurtful events, I still choose to look at the glass half full.
The last words of my mother and grandmother referred to the love they had for me. We always ended conversations affirming our love for each other and that is something that I carry with me this coming Thanksgiving holiday. I will not be sitting around a conventional holiday table but I will be with friends sharing in a feast. Sometimes, the face of the holiday changes and it morphs into a new tradition but it is important to share it with others. As to what I am thankful, looking back my answer is I am thankful that I received love from two amazing women.
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PaisleyPerspective 