Thanksgiving

It's my favorite Holiday!

A holiday dedicated to celebrating food and eating together is pretty special. It also is non-religious and inclusive. I can sit in the back of any New York cab and wish my driver a "Happy Thanksgiving" no matter what. He or she doesn't even need to be an American: we all have something to be thankful for, don't we?

I realized some years ago that we are never as happy as we are sad.

What I mean is that when something bad happens, sadness is 24/7. You wake up sad, you go to sleep sad, sadness weighs on you.

Happiness is more evanescent. It's wonderful, intense, but tends to be momentary. Yes! Wonderful! Now I have to fix dinner, or whatever. It can last, but never with the same depth and intensity as sadness.

That doesn't seem right.

So at times like Thanksgiving, I try to remember to be truly thankful every day. It sounds trite; perhaps cheesy. But you know how sad you feel when an element of your life goes away, even something small, even just momentarily. You twist your ankle and can't walk. You have a cast and can't take a shower. You have stitches and can't wash your hair. Not to mention big stuff like health issues or losing someone you love.

Are you as appreciative as you could be for what you have while you have it? I decided that appreciation was something worth working on.

I think keeping that sense of appreciation top of mind is one reason why we read romances--to remind us through the stories we read of how lucky we are. Lucky to value love and have people we love in our lives.

Lucky to be capable of compromise, of learning from mistakes, of growing.

Lucky to have the courage to risk relationships, to reach out and connect to another person. It's a beautiful thing.

And when I read a great romance, I get that wonderful sense of satisfaction that no matter what might go on in the world, this works and it's good.

Wishing you and yours and very Happy Thanksgiving!