Gratitude in a day

It's an interesting time of year in my brain.  Today, on Thanksgiving, I am for sure grateful.  It is a day of the year where we hear from many about being grateful for things in their worlds, and, in this writing, you will certainly hear mine......so, let me start there. I will close with sharing my thoughts on this giving and grateful next two months that will end after Christmas.

I am grateful for my son on this day. Yesterday, he drove over with one of his boys and picked up his mom to bring her back over the hill to spend Thanksgiving with everyone on this side of the mountains.  I have watched my son make pointed efforts to show his mom love and it is very good.  His mom and I haven't been together since Tyler was a baby, but, we have always parented Tyler as two parents trying to ensure he has been taken care of along the way. Watching my son, now as an adult living his life, being sure to include both of his parents in his life makes my heart smile.  I am grateful for him for those efforts and for the way he is with his boys as a father. He is 100% involved in both of his boys lives and loves them every day of the year. I see how he is with them, I see how they love him, and, for a guy who says "my most important role is being a father", seeing my son ensure he is the best father he can be, gives me immense pride in who he is in his world. 

I am grateful for my amazing love, my wife, my biggest champion in this world, Katrina. I have been witness to her massive achievement over the last year of shifting from a 12 year career right into opening Sunflower Preschool. She has worked exceptionally hard, through a pandemic and all that has come with that, and has never wavered from her goal of providing an education for her preschoolers.  I have watched her as she has developed an environment where children are able to grow and learn in all ways. She has truly created a whole learning environment and I can't express enough how amazing it has been to witness this happen.  It's truly magical to watch.  That's just one amazing area where I am grateful to have her in my world. She shows, on a continual basis, how to be in the world no matter what.  Smile, bring your A game, and show the world what is possible rather than what is impossible.  She's a light in so many peoples worlds and I am truly honored to be the one who gets to wake by her side every day.  

I am grateful for my group of friends who stand by me in all the things I get to do in my world. My friends and colleagues at CWU who don't waver in supporting me be the best college professor I can be, for those who give me opportunities to serve our students through work outside of the classroom, and my friends on campus who I can go to always when I am down and need a pick me up.  

I am grateful for those who have helped me launch the KCRCO.  Movement toward making this a reality for our community has come from many who believe in the mission we have for those in recovery. Through the long time supporters who have known of my desire to do this and have supported me along the way, to newer supporters who see the value in what we are doing, I am eternally grateful. 

I am grateful for my physical health, my ability to navigate staying in a positive mindset, for the skills I have learned to keep me moving forward always.  I am grateful for my circle of influence, those people I am able to reach out to on a moments notice if I am struggling, even if just to say I am struggling, and for them to say they get it. I am grateful for my life as a person in recovery from substance use and mental health disorders.

Now, the interesting thing about this time of year......why, I ask myself, do we as a society tend to things to help others only during the next several weeks?  Why do some only want to house the homeless during winter and not the rest of the year?  Why do some only want to feed the poor in November/December and not the other ten months of the year?  Why do we want to be giving with our time and money to those organizations that help those in need during the holiday season and not the entirety of the year?  

These are things I think about over the next several weeks.  I know it's not everyone, and, there are many who give back all year long, but, I see the side of our society that becomes real giving from now until after Christmas.....when the New Year comes around it all dissipates and some revert and say they have given enough, wait until next year.  I truly wonder if we all decided to have this grateful and giving mindset all year long if we could help lift more people up.