Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving.

Americans have been celebrating the wonderful holiday known as Thanksgiving for a long time now. It became an official federal holiday in 1863. Abraham Lincoln said that we would use this holiday to give thanks to God for the good things in our lives. That was 150 years ago. Today we typically use it as an excuse to gorge ourselves on turkey, potatoes, stuffing, dinner rolls, and lets not forget the pie. Pumpkin, chocolate, apple, the list goes on. Once fully satiated we kick back on a comfy couch and become absorbed in the football game. Thanksgiving has very little, if anything, to do with religion these days. It has very little to do with giving thanks for anything, let alone any divine being.

Around this time of year I become confused about why people start posting facebook statues about “Today I am thankful for …..”. So does that mean you are only thankful for these things one day a year? What about the remaining 364 days of the years? Or is thanksgiving only important to some people because of Black Friday the next day? The amazing Christmas deals that only come around once a year seem to be what many people are concentrating on.

Here are some things I'm thankful for 365 days of the year.

1. Family – Where would any of us be without our family? I'm not only talking about those we have blood relations with because sometimes those people make our lives harder than it should ever be, but I'm talking about those people in your life who love you unconditionally, they support your dreams and visions, and they are there for you in your very darkest hours. For me I am lucky to have an amazing family. They've never doubted my life goals and they've supported me every step of the way. It doesn't stop there. I have so many “friends” that I consider family. Living in Ghana has helped me realize the importance of this. Family, brothers and sisters, isn't about your blood relations. Its about your heart.
2. I don't need to mention friends because they are my family.
3. My health. If you ask my parents they can tell you how many times I've been to the emergency room, but somehow I've grown into a healthy woman. Even since I've been in Ghana I've had very few encounters with any tropical diseases and I've been able to fully recover.
4. My life. The experiences I've had whether good or bad are all so valuable. They've made me the person I am today and I wouldn't change that for the world. Do I believe things happen for a reason? I'm not sure. But I do know that all the wonderful and terrible things that have happened to me have brought me to this very moment in my life and I'm happy about that so I wouldn't change anything.

Sometimes I'll just be sitting on my steps at night watching the stars, and I think that my blessing in life amount to more than all the stars in all the galaxies. I'm just one person on this huge planet full of millions of people and I have so much to be thankful for. Not just one day out of year though. I count my good fortune any chance I get.

Living in a different part of the world has open my eyes to so many issues that you can never fully understand until you experience it. I've become thankful for not only the things I have, but also for the things I don't have of I've never had to experience. I am not saying I've seen or experienced all of these things in Ghana, but I have at least learned about these things happening in many parts of the world today.

1. I'm thankful that I am not currently suffering from malaria. Fever, chills, headaches, nausea, diarrhea, body pains, etc.
2. I am thankful that I am not a mother of malnourished children who are crying in the night with empty bellies.
3. I am thankful that I have not lost my parents or any loved ones to HIV/AIDS.
4. I am thankful that I don't have a distended stomach full of worms.
5. I am thankful that I could take a school bus to school instead of walking up to an hour both ways.
6. I am thankful that I have an endless supply of clean drinking water.
7. I am thankful that I'm not abused every day by a parent/spouse.
8. I am thankful that I don't live every day in fear of bombs being dropped on my home.
9. I'm thankful that my life hasn't been lost to drugs, alcohol or prostitution.

The truth is I could go on for years. I think the list of things that I'm thankful for not having is much longer than the list of things I'm thankful I have. I see that as a good thing.

I think we all get lost sometimes in our own worlds without ever even considering the fact that no matter how bad our lives are, there is probably someone worse off. Every time I imagine that it's very humbling.

This year for thanksgiving I traveled to my friend Jessica's site in the Upper West Region of Ghana. We didn't celebrate on the actual day, but that weekend we feasted. Fried guinea fowl (kind of like chicken), yam salad (like potato salad except with yams), instant mashed potatoes, stove top stuffing, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, and deviled eggs. Everything was delicious. The best part about our thanksgiving feast wasn't the mass quantities of food though. It was sharing our feast with two Ghanaian friends. We took pictures and explained the meaning of thanksgiving to them. We made them try each and every dish and the best part was that their favorite dish was the boxed mac and cheese. Who knew that the cheapest, easiest thing would be such a hit! We had a wonderful time sharing stories and laughing. I will remember this thanksgiving forever.

As I write this I only hope that people around the world can learn to be a little more thankful for the things they have instead of wishing for more. Also, we all need to take a second and realize that so long as we are alive, and we have food/water/shelter, then our lives aren't really that bad. We struggle and suffer. That's life sometimes. Speak to people with kind words and always have heart for them. You never know the struggles they are dealing with in their lives and you never know if one day someone will be thankful that you took the time to appreciate them and give them a reason to live.