November has been a wonderful month. Our days have been filled with friends, family and love; and these three alone are not just enough, but also tremendous blessings, to be thankful for. After, or perhaps during, this holiday I will make a point to catch myself up with all the life that’s been going on in our household. As always, I wish to never forget the way I felt yesterday, the way I feel right now, and the hopes I have for tomorrow.
But seriously: Time? Can you slow down, please? I can’t believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It really feels like yesterday I just wrote this post about being thankful.
Well, this Thanksgiving I wanted to write a little bit more about what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my family and the moments we can share as all of us grow. I am thankful for my friends who let me share a piece of myself with them, and who share a piece of themselves with me. I am thankful for my husband who has been a solid pillar of support for me, whether that means helping with the little ones or having faith in me and my choices. I am especially thankful for his consistent ability to make me laugh. I am blessed.
With just the right amount of 'tude.
With just the right amount of sweetness.
And there is something else I am greatly thankful for. It is something I think is often taken for granted, very little thought of, and maybe not even really understood, even by me.
This is our Free Will. This divinely given gift is what makes us the unique people that we are. Without free will, we may as well be robots or cogs in a machine with no purpose, no goals, no hopes and no dreams. Kind of dreary, right? With free will come a slew of choices – both good and bad, endless paths – both right and wrong, and a variety of emotional feelings – including anger and love. Every day we get to choose: Where do I want to go today? How will I get there? How will I feel about it?
One day I would love to delve into this a little more, but today I am just thankful. Thankful that I can choose. Sometimes I may fail to make the right choice. Sometimes I may choose to make the wrong one. But these choices are mine. (As are, of course, the consequences.) That is what Life is all about.
Every new day that is my own is a day to be thankful for. And I hope that we, as a people, can guard this treasure closely for our children, our grandchildren and for many generations to come. Because although it is a divine gift that we are all equally given, it is one that can be taken away by our own selves.
Happy Thankgiving!
***
And, yes, there is so much to share about the little ones. They do change so fast.
Those are awesome photographs, complex!!!
love your work Andrea! xx