Gratitude (aka Thanksgiving)

I am thankful for:

• My family and friends, who keep me sane and grounded... and who have come through for me so many times in so many ways I never fail to be astounded by their generosity and love.
• My husband and daughter, who are the hub of my world. They are my glue, my greatness, and my glory.
• My home, my health, and my happiness. I am forever striving to value these things all the time, because I know I am luckier than many and therefore might do more to stop suffering if I were consistently able to see my own bounty.
• My graduate program, professors, peers, colleagues, and mentors—they have enriched my learning experience beyond measure and are an integral part of my development as a counselor and my growth as a human being.
• My students and clients... who unfailingly teach me new things about myself, my work, and the world at large each time we work together.
• My country, which has managed its 44th presidential election and is in the middle of a successful, peaceful, and productive transition amid turmoil and fear. The philosophy and idealism of this nation is one of its most beautiful assets and inspiring qualities.
• The many creative, inspirational, humbling, glorious, sacred, powerful things in this world that can occur on the most minute level imaginable or the largest scale possible. I am grateful for these because it helps me remember my humanity – in both its finite and infinite carnations – and the dizzyingly intricate interconnectedness of everything.