Give thanks for what you have

In this constantly-wanting-more-society we fail to see what we already have is pretty awesome. Don’t fail to give thanks for what you have.  The past few months I have been dealing with a injury that has pretty much sidelined me.

In order to help this injury heal, hiking, biking, kayaking, or anything fun outdoors is not allowed. I have spent more time at home these past few months than I ever have. And this depresses me.

I even asked some friends how they cope with recovering from an injury and not being able to get outside much. The advice I was given was swimming or weight lifting. Those are great things and give you the endorphins. But I want to be outside. If it were August, swimming at the late would totally work. However it’s November, and I’m not really into the whole polar bear plunge thing.

I am sad to admit that it took losing something that I love to truly appreciate it. We as humans really don’t know the the value of something until we don’t have it anymore.

I have never counted my health as something to be thankful for. People around me have gotten sick and lost doing what they love; people around me have died from illness; but I never counted myself blessed to be “normal.”

In our society of consumerism with advertising everywhere we look, we are constantly being told that our lives are subpar. We may think we have a happy healthy life but in fact it could be so much better if we just spend a little bit of money on this new product, they tell us.

I think of Dove deodorant commercials from a few years ago. Who knew we women need to be insecure about our underarms? But don’t worry, Dove promises to make you underarm skin smoother, in case you were worried about someone rubbing on your underarm and having rough skin.

And we now have the acronym FOMO – fear of missing out. We experience FOMO when we see our friends on social media doing amazing things and we want to do them too. After all they are our piers, so it makes it look more than possible to us.

I have to say here that I disagree some with the argument that social media depresses us. I believe it also inspires. To read further on this topic, read my blog post Social Media Inspires Not Depresses.

But when we do see our friends doing amazing adventures, and we see advertisements saying they can help us with our unknown insecurities and how to have a happy healthier life, we take what we have and can do for granted.

So today on Thanksgiving and every day after, I challenge you to give thanks for what you have. And don’t just appreciate your life. Give thanks where thanks is due – to God, to your family, your friends, your coworkers, to yourself and to anyone else who deserves to be appreciated.