Things I'm thankful for

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I overshadowed my own thanksgiving with fear and anxiety. So here is a list of things I forgot to say I am thankful for. After all, thanks should be given on all days, not just one Thursday in November. Either way, better late than never I suppose:

I am thankful for every person who has come into my life. Every friend, family member, teacher, neighbor, or passerby has shaped me into who I am, and for that I owe more than just a thanks. I am thankful for my mother, my father, and the fact that, despite their differences, they both treat me undeservingly well. I am thankful for my brothers, for the inspiration they have planted in me and the rivalry that continues to grow. I am thankful for the girls across the street, the ones across town, and those across oceans who have listened to me and advised me and somehow still believe in me. I am thankful for the patience, care, respect, and poise of every person in (or once a part of) my life.

I am thankful for each and every bone in my body, even the broken ones (erstwhile reminders of "carpe diem's" gone wrong). I am thankful for the wisdom teeth I have yet to pull, the hair I often yank, and the toes I crack to carelessly. I am thankful that I have been given a body of decent proportions but equally as grateful that I have to work to maintain it that way, that laziness reaps no prize.

I am thankful for the house I live in, the security of solid walls and the comfort of consistency. I am thankful for the jar of Nutella in my cabinet, the silverware I will consume it with, and the washing machine and garbage cans that will cover up the evidence. I am thankful for the gadgets I thought I needed but more thankful for the realization that I do not need them at all.

I am thankful that I have the capacity to know seemingly everything, both physically and environmentally. I am thankful for the books, the music, the colors, the numbers, the factoids, the lessons. More than any of those things, I am thankful that someone saw enough in me to teach me those things.

I am thankful for the trees, the grass, the mountains, the stars, the ocean, the fish, the birds, the flowers, the pigs, the lakes, the weeping willows, the sand, the glaciers, the deserts, the seas, the creators, the moon, the canyons, the butterflies, the waves, the sun, the wind, the weeds, and the colors of them all. I am thankful for everything bigger than me, for the things that remind me to love being so small.

I am thankful for my luck, for the experiences that are available to me and not to everyone. I am thankful for the things that just went my way. And, for clichés sake, I am thankful for the things that didn't. I am grateful for the lies I wish had never slipped and the truths I wish had been lies. Each maltreatment, each bump in the road, each hardship, thankfully, has thought me something important. I am thankful, though, that the bumps are just bumps and not mountains, that they have always been small enough to see past.

But, more than anything, I am thankful that the list does not end there. I am so thankful for a never ending and ever expanding list of reasons to give thanks.