The other day, my daughter posted a sign on our front door asking people to write, “What are you thankful for?”
The gardeners, the mailman, the holiday lighting guys, and others wrote: “I am thankful for my family, my friends, my job, my health, my cool friends, the blue sky, and happy times.”
I have to say, I love this!
Then it got me thinking…while I’m also thankful for my health, my family, and my cool friends, what else am I thankful for? Since I write about seeing the favor in any experience, good or bad (such as a break up), I realized that…
I’m thankful for all the sucky things that happened in my life too.
So here’s my “I’m thankful” list:
- I’m thankful for that sucky job at a low-budget production company and the executive assistant who made me cry. Because of that, I quit and got a great job at a big studio where I met my husband.
- I’m thankful for the toxic friends I had, because by letting go of them, I got great friends who are the most supportive, amazing women I’ve ever met.
- I’m thankful for the bad perm my girlfriend gave me when I was in high school, because I now favor healthy blowouts at the Dry Bar instead of chemical hair frying.
- I’m thankful for the slow driver on the 134 freeway who I couldn’t get around no matter how hard I tried, because it forced me to slow down and listen to a great segment on NPR…and I still got to my meeting on time.
- I’m thankful for that cold I got back in August, because I got to catch up on the entire series of “Game of Thrones”…and I got hooked on greenie shakes.
- I’m thankful for all the scars on my knees from chasing my brother and falling down (a lot), because they remind me to lead, not follow.
- I’m thankful for my big breakup, because I got back my confident self, started writing again, and penned the book, “He Did You a Favor.”
- I’m thankful for the guy who dumped me on the eve of being asked out by a guy who ended up being the love of my life.
The truth is, you never gain strength without great challenges. Because of all my experiences, I’m happier, healthier, and stronger than I’ve ever been in my life. For that, I can be thankful for each and every one of them.
What’s on your “thankful” list?
Happy Post-Thanksgiving!
With love, Debra
Debra Rogers is the author of He Did You a Favor — A Smart Girl’s Guide to Breaking Up, Waking Up, and Discovering the Gift of YOU. She lives in Los Angeles with her amazing daughter and has finally found true love. He Did You a Favor is her recipe for success, so you can have the life (and love) you’ve always dreamed of.
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In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community