I’m VERY Thankful this Year

There’s an informal fallacy called the Fallacy of Relative Privation.  Simply put, when you say ” had such a hard day at work.” and someone responds “Hey, my grandfather worked 16 hour days on his hands and knees in the coal mines…your day wasn’t THAT hard.” you should stop talking to them because they’re minimizing your argument by presenting a worst case scenario.

But, I think you need to head down this path a bit to appreciate and be thankful for what you really have.  There’s always someone worse off than you, and it doesn’t hurt to reflect on your blessings (no matter how grand or meager they may seem to you) and give thanks.   So, as an exercise for me, a celebration of the holiday, and a formal declaration and thank you to those involved, here’s what I am thankful for.

My family. My lovely wife, amazing little girls, parents, sister and in laws.  Without them I would be (at best) lost and (at worst) unable to enjoy the rest of the items in this list.

Karch and Kona, my cats.  Karch has been with me for 16 years and shows no signs of slowing down.  Kona is 2 and reminds me what life with a kitten is like.  I think she also keeps Karch young.

My job.  Yeah, I love and hate it alternately on any given day….but who doesn’t feel that way about their job.  I’m fortunate enough to usually get to do things I love (tech and teaching) and do it with some pretty cool people.

My friends.  Old friends, many of whom are surrogate brothers and sisters for me, and new ones, who week to week keep me from being a hermit.  This includes the college friends who I don’t see or talk to nearly enough, and the neighbors who have made our development an amazing place to live.

My home.  We built our dream house, ’nuff said.

My goals.  Some will be achieved, and some will fuel forward progress.   No matter, I’m thankful that I can consistently set new goals for myself and work toward them.

My health.   There’s nothing but me standing in my way the Spartan Trifecta, traveling, playing with the girls or finding another adventure. Special thanks to Matt at Sandbag Fitness, the folks at Brute Force, Stephanie at SKFitlife, Rose and everyone else at Spartan Race for being inspirations.

Star Wars:  C’mon, like I have to explain this one.

There’s more, but I’ll start boring you, and this is the big stuff.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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2 Comments

Filed under family fun, Uncategorized

2 Responses to I’m VERY Thankful this Year

  1. Great post! My list looks very similar (even the Star Wars part, if you can believe it!). Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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