Gratitude

What wave?

Thanksgiving, both Canadian and American have come and gone. This year, I spent both Thanksgivings being swept away in the warm waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Madeleine calls it ‘frolicking’ in the waves but, being the old prude that I am, I just don’t think ‘frolicking’ on Thanksgiving, whether it be in the ocean or wherever, sounds right to me.  So let it be known that on Thanksgiving this year, Madeleine frolicked while I was merely swept away.  I digress from the point of this blog entry.

As in the past two years when our chosen habitat just happens to be some of the poorest and most dismal places on the face of our good planet, (correction... this year, poor, but not dismal), it is needless to point out that my days here are rife with daily and relentless reminders of how privileged and well-heeled I am compared to the people I share my days and my space with.  I have always thought of myself as being an intuitive and empathetic person who has almost always appreciated his fate in life and who has never taken his comfortable and affluent life for granted. I admit, there may have been a few times when I may have inadvertently spiraled out of control and lapsed into this diseased consumerist self-perceived-value-equals-value-of-material-possessions mindset that has presently afflicted much of the western world (hmmm…my 52 inch Sony TV sitting in Patrick’s apartment comes to mind…or that brand new totally awesome blue with tanned leather seats MGB convertible babe-mobile that I bought at the ripe old age of 24…got to hand it to me though, when I spiral, I spiral with a vengeance!). By the way, weren’t those recent Black Friday Wal-Mart riots fascinating?  Again, I digress.

Living in Africa, has truly brought home the whole concept of ‘counting one’s blessings’. Understandably, Thanksgiving Day has also taken a significant jump in prominence in our personal calendars, ranking right up there with Christmas and May 16^th, our anniversary. In fact, this is probably one of the greatest gifts Africa has given us: the gift of gratitude.

Oh...that wave....

So today, via this blog, I send my thanks out to the universe. I give thanks for all the gifts that life has given me, not only the big gifts like a wonderful ‘frolicking’ (and of course gorgeous) life partner, an awesomely altruistic and curious (and of course gorgeous) daughter, an incredibly compassionate and intuitive (and of course handsome) son, good friends and family, good health, but also the other small gifts, like the internet, cool mornings, chocolate pecan pie, beaches, warm ocean water, good deodorant, Binto (our maid), Friday afternoons, a good gym, a secure pension, an interesting job (most days), goats braying in the morning, etc, etc, etc…

Life is good.