What I'm Thankful For

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Thanksgiving is this week (don't panic!). Since we tend to get a little too caught up in the idea of Thanksgiving being all about the food—I'm just as bad as anyone about this—I've decided that I wanted to a column that's a little different from what I usually do in these pages. Thanksgiving is really all about taking a moment and remembering what you're thankful for. The modern world is crazy, and the more we spend invested in our phones than our interactions with each other, it's easy to forget the aspects of life that are really important. So if you'll indulge me, this week's column is going to be a list of what I'm thankful for. If you don't want to read it, that's fine. My usual fare will be here next week, but this is just something that I wanted to do.

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for their support, and their love, and their care towards me. I'm thankful that I'm around to help take care of them in return. I'm thankful my parents didn't find it weird when I was seven and told them I wanted to go as Groucho Marx for Halloween. I'm thankful they didn't kill me the day I showed up and said “Hey! I just bought a pinball machine at yard sale, I need some help moving it here!”

I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for the ones that live 10 miles away, and the ones that live 10,000 miles away. I'm thankful for the ones that I hold near to my heart. I'm thankful for the ones that I can text late at night when I'm having an anxiety attack, and need someone to talk to. I'm thankful for the ones who make me feel loved on the days that I don't love myself.

I'm thankful for music. I'm thankful that music is such a big part of my life, and part of who I am as a person. I'm thankful that sometimes all I need to return to normal is just an hour or two alone with a pair of headphones on.

I'm thankful for those moments when you're not even trying to appreciate the beauty of the world, and then you catch yourself driving home and seeing the most amazing sky at sunset. We rush all day long, and it's easy to forget to just take a moment and enjoy what we see.

I'm thankful that I don't feel a need to keep up with the Jones. What I mean by this is that I'm happy I don't feel like I have to shape who I am to fit in with everyone else. I've crafted my own wonderful world to live in, and I've found it to be a lot more colorful and fun than the one everybody else seems to fit into.

I'm thankful for movies. Movies have given me a great place to go to on days when I felt at my absolute worst. Movies do indeed have a form of magic that they can spell, and when the right movie hits you at the right time, it's a transcendent feeling. Next time you're having a terrible day, watch the movie “Harvey”, and tell me you don't feel better come the following sunrise.

I'm thankful for this column, The Loafer, and you, the reader. I'm thankful that I have this place to express myself, to put humor into the world, and I'm thankful that you've been reading what I've been doing for the past seven years. It's not been perfect, and sometimes I've done things I wish I had never let see the light of day. But no one's really gotten too upset, and it is such a deep feeling of satisfaction to me knowing that people laugh at the funny ones, and I hope feel something good at the somewhat serious ones.

This is a good place to end my list. Is it everything I'm thankful for? No. I have to keep some things to myself. However I do hope that if I can leave one thought with you as we move towards Thanksgiving, and the month of December, it would be the following. We're always being told about all of the bad that goes on in the world. There is good that takes place, and sometimes you just have to look for it, or provide it yourself.

It doesn't have to be anything big, though those are good things. It can be a kind word to someone, being nicer to the person who hands you your coffee in the morning, or just try to be the type of person who doesn't make people groan after you've ended an interaction with them. With that, I wish you all a most Happy Thanksgiving.

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