Let's talk about gratitude

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'Enough' is a feast.
-Buddhist Proverb

What exactly are we grateful for? Sure, we have family, friends, health, and homes. But in our enlightened and privileged American world, those are commodities and perhaps deserve no more gratitude than water and soil.

"OMG I can’t believe you said that, you insensitive prick!"

Ah, but just like water and soil, all these things can be wiped away at any moment. One storm can leave us homeless, like we saw in Texas and Puerto Rico. One tragedy can take our families and friends, like we saw in Las Vegas.

These are horrible, freak accidents. But so unlikely to affect you, me, or Dupree, that its too easy to say that we’re grateful to be safe. We are grateful that a freak accident hasn’t happened to us? Important, sure. But a bit shallow.

Maybe we’re grateful that we were born with these things to begin with. Children have lost mothers at birth for centuries, but many of us still have ours. America provides unique opportunities that my parents’ home country of Russia- and many others around the world- don’t even consider a human right.

But these are coincidences. Are we grateful for dumb luck of the draw? Grateful that we happened to be born to our particular parents, or that they happened to work themselves into a middle-class income to supply the security of our childhoods? That seems too untouchable, too flimsy, and, again, too easy.

So what should we be grateful for? The tangible and specific, not the abstract.

Don’t just be grateful for your health- take a deep breath, and say thank you for that moment.

Don’t just be grateful for your family- hug your Mother, and thank the emotion of that moment.

Don’t just be grateful for your friends- take a mental image of a moment, a laugh, a hug that means more to you than luck or coincidence ever could.

So this Thanksgiving, of course I am grateful for my health, home, family, and friends. But even more so, I’m grateful for the fact that my mom still hugs me every day, that my bed is big enough to fit me and my puppy, that I’m free enough to laugh at rib-cracking moments with my best friends.

I'm even grateful that my grandmother is still sane enough to send me emails about “6 MUST SEE Moments on Ukraine’s Got Talent!” Or maybe she’s insane? It’s a fine line...

And I’m grateful for that time- that specific moment in time- when you and I shook hands, hugged, or shared something most recently.

Much love,

A

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