Josh and Becca Thrap and Family

Lately I’ve been having some good days. Of course there are still struggles and frustrations in my life, but I am getting through them with much more ease. And what’s more, I’ve noticed and have been thankful for it. The last two or three days especially I have been finding myself with thankful thoughts in my head and songs in my heart. I’m so glad that we have a national holiday to remind us to stop and be thankful. It is so easy to get carried away with work and worry and life, but without pauses for thanks, you start to forget why you’re doing all the things that are keeping you busy and causing you trouble and you just feel the troubles. This morning I lept from my bed to rush around as usual trying to get the older kids out the door and all that that implies, but as soon as they were gone and I headed back into my room, rather than go back to sleep or play a game of sudoku, I remembered a song my Grandmother used to sing and it ran through my head: For food, for raiment, for life, for opportunity, for friendship, and fellowship, we thank Thee, O Lord.
And so I dressed for the day without cursing my body or my clothes and I came down to my computer to share with all of you. You know, so often we are focused on the future and how we want things to be and we work hard (or beat ourselves up for not working hard) for things that we think will cause big positive changes in our lives. Better jobs, bigger homes, thinner bodies etc. And those things are nice, but so many of us put off happiness thinking we need those things first in order to feel better, when the things that can really make truly amazing positive changes in our lives are already available to everyone and it is just up to us to utilize them. I believe that Thankfulness is one of these universally attainable tools of good. You may use it in conjuction with whatever religion you prefer, but I don’t think you have to be religious to benefit from being thankful. In fact I think all religions probably benefit from teaching thankfulness as a practice. But I digress. I like nice things, I would like to have more bigger and better nice things, but ultimately, what I treasure most are my relationships with friends and family and all of the wonderful people who have touched my life at one time or another. I truly appreciate all of you and what you mean to me. I have recently been reminded of the powerful influence of friendship. I have so many wonderful friends all over the globe, and even if we have not been together for some time, I still value the bonds we’ve made. And I am thankful that I have this medium to be able to reconnect with all of you. So, today, and everyday, I am thankful for YOU, my friends and family, and I celebrate your presence in my life. I can only hope that I may be able to help make positive influences in your lives as you have done in mine. Now I would like to point out that while of course I am speaking to my closest of close like my father and Kate, I am, in fact, speaking to ALL of you. Do not think that I don’t mean YOU just because you haven’t been mentioned by name or we haven’t been together for a while or the nature of our relationship isn’t all buddy buddy or whatever. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, in-laws, husband’s friends, former classmates or coworkers, old neighbors, etc etc etc. I love you and value the impact that you have had on my life. Be excellent and party on dudes!