Giving Thanks

It was Thanksgiving this past weekend up here in Canada, so I thought that this week, I would talk about gratitude.

There is much in my life that I am grateful for. All in all, I'm a pretty lucky woman.

I am blessed with a family that I love, who loves me back. We may be a bit spread out with my sister, brother in law and nieces living overseas, but in this day and age that is no barrier to closeness. I have parents who love and support me who were there growing up. I have a brilliant and talented older sister, and two young nieces who are geniuses. I'm not biased at all there.  I have a terrific extended family, full of wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, and more recently acquired step family who are terrific.

I have a career that I love. Massage therapy doesn't just keep a roof over my head, it feeds my soul. It gives me the ability to help others in a very tangible way, and gives me the opportunity to meet a variety of interesting and truly wonderful people. I get to work with some very talented, kind and funny people who I look forward to seeing each week.

I live in a fantastic city in a wonderful country. I've had the chance to live briefly in other parts of the country and world, but Halifax is the place I keep coming back to. It's just the right size, neither too large nor too small. I live in a country that isn't perfect by any means, but is still wonderful. I am particularly grateful for our healthcare system. If I get sick, I don't need to worry about going into massive debt, and given my history of vision problems, that has been significant. I have loved some of the other places I've lived, too, ranging from northern England to Washington, D.C., but this place is my true home.

I am grateful for the chance to write like this. You all have been receptive, and seem to enjoy reading my occasionally far-ranging thoughts, so I am also grateful for all of you.  Your encouragement and support means the world to me.

Finally, I am grateful for the negative things I have encountered, especially vision loss. I think our challenges shape us. How we overcome them, and even more so how we accept them. I would not be the person that I became without them. True, I didn't exactly appreciate them at the time they were happening, but looking back on them, I can only show gratitude.

To my fellow Canadians, I hope that you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving. To everyone else... well, if you are American, I hope you have a terrific one next month, and if you are not I convey my condolences that you don't get Thanksgiving, as I absolutely love it.

ps: My apologies for last week's lack of a blog. I caugh the virus that was going around and spent significant parts of the week in bed. It takes a lot to keep me from the keyboard, but that did it.

Want to follow or interact with me on social media? Find me on Twitter by following @jennifermorash or head over to http://www.facebook.com/jennifermorashblog. I post blogs every week on Wednesdays.

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