Giving Thanx

Not to be a curmudgeon, but I'm really not all that big on holidays at this point in my life. They don't yield me a reprieve from school anymore. I don't receive pay for a day of leisure. I can't exited just because it's the anniversary of someone or something's death or birth - including my own. Most are relevant only for one nation or people. And all are built around replicating traditions, which strikes me as wholly uninspired. Yet they do bring joy to the lives of most; and for that, I'm grateful. Today, in fact, is the one holiday that I can really get behind. Not that I care to celebrate the time when Europeans first began their genocide of the Native American people. And as for the feast, over eating just makes me feel bad; and I feel even worse for the millions of fowl and swine who's lives were brought about and then ended just for the sake of upholding this one tradition. However, it's a great thing to encourage everyone in the nation to spend a whole day being grateful. (OK, admittedly for many, it's just a few uncomfortable seconds during their turn at sharing around the table.) I think the "good will towards all" (Note my leaving out the limiting "mankind".) aspect of X-mas is equally great, it just tends to get lost amid all the pomp and packaging; and is theoretically, only for those who have sworn allegiance to a particular book.

Gratefulness is a practice that broadly benefits the individual and has the potential to infect others, as well. I'd like it if Thanksgiving was taken as more than just a day to be thankful, but as a day to practice or reinforce a sustained attitude of gratefulness.

We live in a country where the media, our friends and our neighbors are always showing off their most recently acquired possession or touting the greatness of the latest version of ... whatever. There's always a prize dangling in front of our nose, like the carrot hanging from a stick leading the donkey onward.

We'd be some much happier if we could instill a fraction of that energy into being thankful for what we have and for that which we used to have and for those who grace our lives and for the privilege of life itself. And as emotions and attitudes are contagious, others can then be thankful for our gratefulness, in turn.

I am daily thankful for my imperfect yet brilliantly fitting and appropriate partner, Bashka. As stressful as it was to create and as much work as it takes to maintain, I'm so thankful for our home; and by extension, all those who helped us to bring it into being. The time between sessions always reinforces my gratitude to my students, the centers and for my having the opportunity to share my heartfelt thoughts and lessons in class. My rickety old Accord that was given to me a decade ago, rusty and squeaky and leaky as it is, is a blessing for me. I love the interior jungle that freshens the air in our house and the squirrels that play in our trees and dig up our gardens. I hold great appreciation for all of Bashka's cyber-friends that I've never met, yet who help to sustain her spirits every day. I feel enriched by the color and clarity that musicians, scientists, poets and sages have added to the human condition throughout my lifetime and over the centuries. Despite their glitches and short comings, I'm ever so grateful for having such a brilliant body and so healthy a brain. I relish the mind numbing awe that the universe and the mystery of the future inspire within me. I love that I have this day, this moment, this chance to say what I feel and to touch another with my words.

If you have trouble finding something to be thankful for, just stop breathing for a few minutes and see how much appreciation you can have for one single breath.

Namaste