Let me show you my short list for some of which I am not thankful:

• My family's loss and pain of which we all will forever endure.
• The challenges my children face and emotional barriers that entangle us all.
• Problems from my divorce that still burden my life today.

• My lack of closeness with my mother, sibling and children.
• Financial fears and desperation.
• My depression that is more reliable than anything else in my life, ever.
• My feelings that I will never be good enough in my mother's eyes...and my own.
• My housing or lack thereof.

The list goes on and on. And for some of you, your list may be lengthy as well.

As the holidays inch closer many of us may be haunted by the many things we don't have, can't do or wish were so different from the way they are today.

It's easy to think, "Thanks. But no thanks."

Life isn't perfect

I won't begin to tell you you're wrong to feel your life, at times, is less than desirable. In fact, some of you may really have a lot to b*tch about, especially following a breakup and divorce.

The only thing that I can tell you is that life has no guarantee, no warranty of any kind. Yours may actually feel like an Etzel sometimes.  I know mine does.

But "your life" is not a physical thing.  Your body is, but not your life. 

It's a period of time, energy and/or existence - an evolving manifestation of your time here on earth. It's everchanging. In many ways that's why life should be so valued.

It provides opportunity to discover great highs and lows that, over the course of an average lifetime, you are most certainly to experience.  But with every new day, there are open doors, some good, some bad.

The good, the bad, the unlimited possibilities

Many of us may find it difficult to offer a blanket statement of thanks in the eye of all that we grieve, lose, agonize or suffer. We cannot ignore the problems that we each individually face today and fear tomorrow. 

Even though we strive to experience more good than bad, value can be found in both.

The lessons from our lows and the strength to pull ourselves together following painful experiences provide the chance to fully grasp the magnitude of all that life has to offer. We should not forget the terrific tragedies that provided our freedoms, secure our peace and/or develop our beliefs for life ever after.

And while we will never completely lose the lows of lost love, such heartbreak provides rich contrast that seems to more fully illuminate true love, friendship and family.

Every minute of each day, an opportunity

Even without the broad scope of common things, circumstances and people to give thanks, find thanks within.

Despite every ripple in our existence, every wake made by our tiny vessel upon the turbulent ocean of humankind, we sail on.

The waters rage, crest and calm.  We sail on.  No end in the distance, no limit to possible ports.

In our own lives, that is but one glimmer of hope that, despite adversity, we may arrive to find:

• strength to overcome our past and all that haunts us about it
• ability to provide wisdom following our losses in order to prepare for more rough waters ahead but know we are capable of facing those waters and managing your way home
• appreciation for our comprehension of value in every minute with those we love and that which we find happiness and joy
• awareness of all that we lack, providing us the hunger and desire to satisfy our deficits to hopefully avoid future regrets

In your lowest of times, thanks may not come from what you have been provided, but for which you have the power to provide.

Like the other, the list goes on and on. This too, is the same for your life.

Life is forever a great space, a venue for our small but powerful existence that of it we cannot expect to guide us to only secure, peaceful, righteous waters.  Rather we pray the opportunity to demonstrate said power through both our willingness to accept what we are given, fight for what we want and maintain our resilience and ability to overcome all that stops us from doing so.

Rowing to the west, means facing east

We must proceed towards what we seek, what we need and row away from all we don't.

Rowing toward something, despite sometimes facing the perils of our life in shambles involves believing something or someone is out there even when you have no tangible proof or cannot see it.

The greatest power gained from loss is the strength to believe ourselves more than the sum of those losses at our lowest point.  We must have the ability to overcome our weaknesses, our fears.

Our gift is the ability to believe in ourselves to do so. Thankful for our opportunity, our life, to do more than live life as it was granted, but to create the life we want. 

This belief can provide us warmth, when all other hope is cold.

For that, today I will give thanks.

My simple prayer

I believe

I believe in myself; I believe in the power to overcome my own powerlessness.

I know I am a very small part of the vast world for which I live but in it I can make a difference if I believe I can.

I am inspired by the belief of others, their confidence and their inspiration.

I believe in a higher purpose, greater plan more important than one person for which I too am helped when helping others.

In my loss, glory and stillness I gain wisdom through the power of existence and strength to persevere.

I believe in the power to go on, even when I am in denial, utter disbelief of life's tragedies that demonstrate the great plain of life offers not secure ground, rather forever changing waters for which I sail throughout my lifetime.

I am a believer because regardless of if I row this tiny vessel or let it sail in the wind, it continues to move through the passage of my lifetime.

Life goes on and at any moment I am the water, the wind or the vessel, at times I am all three as, one man, a passenger.

For that, today I remain a believer.

I propel myself forward just as life continues to go on around me by way of the society in which I live and through me, by every organ that sustains my existence until one day, I too, will be called home, the moment for which the water stills, and my soul forever sails in peaceful seas in heaven. I believe.

Until that one moment in time, one minute, one millionth of a second, I will live, love, lose, fall, fail and forgive. I will laugh, cry, sleep, dream and live to see another day, until I don't, I will live.

For that, for today and for every day, I am thankful.

I hope you will join me in my thanks, to better our lives and the world for which we live.

Amen.

Bless all of our faithful readers, be it one or one million, DMK is here for you. May we celebrate this month of thanks together, with the faith and determination to seek more from your life than formerly accepted!

Happy Thanksgiving!

</