Grouchy About Gratitude

It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I woke up this morning realizing that I’ve been feeling kinda grouchy… at least since Thursday.  I wanna blame it on the turkey, which was even a little drier than usual, despite having been cooked by Whole Foods for close to the cost of my first house.  (I won’t be pardoning that turkey!)  Or I wanna blame it on the political tumult we’re witnessing at home and abroad, which some days leaves me feeling worn out.  And I’m inclined to blame my laptop for failing to cooperate with me this week on several important projects, to the point I threatened to fling it against the wall and shop for a used typewriter!

But, NO… upon examining my down-in-the-dumps feelings today, I saw the real cause: I failed to acknowledge my GRATITUDE for ALL of it.  Along with my friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, I might have said,

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything thy goodness sends.

But I didn’t even say a perfunctory before the meal prayer like,

Rub a Dub Dub

Thanks for the Grub

What could be a better time to be thankful out loud than Thanksgiving week?  But, ironically, because I do understand the spiritual and emotional importance of expressing gratitude, and practice it pretty vigorously, I was so busy shopping, preparing, anticipating, etc., that I almost forgot what this holiday is all about.  And I let the dry turkey, frustrating politics, and that fiendish laptop rule my emotions temporarily.

But, in the spirit of, “it’s-never-too-late”… I sat quietly for a while and let myself feel, then express, my thanks for all that I’ve been given.  Shortly, I was no longer grouchy, cranky, or down.  And I said, out loud, with a smile,

Thanks for the meal…

Thanks for the whole deal!

Joe McKay