Usually when Thanksgiving comes, I just say "Thank you for everything, Lord!" It's one of those things that I take for granted in my life. But this year I beg to differ.
It has been years since I last celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. It's a different thing, not entirely, from what the people do in the different places that celebrate it too. They gather together over pumpkin pies and stuffed turkey. Ours is celebrated by our whole barangay, a tradition that started the year my father won the elections, that was a decade ago. Although it is celebrated in a modified way, the thought still remains.
Anyway, What Am I Thankful for?
First, I am grateful that I am given this chance to spend this day with the rest of my family and the people in my barangay.
I am also thankful for:
- the events that happened not just this year but the past years as well, be it good or bad, painful or not, happy or sad, big or small. I've been through a lot in college and looking back now, I still can not believe I survive them all.
- the people I met, who came in and out of my life. My childhood friends (some are married and with Kids already), high school friends, college friends, the people I met and became friends with in my review, in my few travels, in my time in ODH as a volunteer and as a Dole trainee, everyone, even in the briefest of times, who became a part of my life, significant or not. They contributed to everything that I learned and experienced in my life.
- the "loves" that I gained and lost. Without them, I never would've learned how it was to love and be loved, to care and be cared for. I would never have experienced extreme happiness and extreme sadness, how it felt to need and be needed by someone, how it felt to be scared of losing them and how it felt when your heart is breaking into millions of pieces and everything that came with loving someone a little too much. Nevertheless there were lots of lessons learned and I could never be thankful enough.
- Family and Friends who never left my side, who were there every single step of the way, who were my cheerleaders when I was down, times of weakness and happiness and everything in between. And for their extraordinary patience, understanding, the happy memories, the sad ones, the unforgettable ones. For everything that they've done for me, just to see me happy.
- Passing the NLE. Need I say more?!
- The gift of life. That I am living a comfortable life. I may not have everything I want but I have just what I need to go through it. I am just grateful that I have experienced how it was to have less and to have more. This gave me a better understanding of everything. I am also glad that I have enough to share to those who have less. That it's me who's doing the sharing and not the other way around.
- the lessons I learned, the chances that I was given and the experiences I had in my entire life.
- to GOD for being who and what He is.
There are a million and a half of things that I am thankful for. Some I've forgotten already. I can not possibly put everything here so..
This is the part where I say:
"Thank you for everything, Lord!!!"
