Hi everyone!
After some hibernation, the Jewish Mom's Blog is up and at it!
Enjoy this post from M.D.
Chai you doin?
Today’s Topic: Thanks a lot!
I know this sounds bad but I get extremely cynical when Thanksgiving rolls around. I know it may be hard to believe with all that good food that so gloriously abounds - I guess my real problem with it is the fraudulent gratitude it enforces: Now let us give thanks, and pass the mashed potatoes and gravy!
So what is there to be so thankful for when there is still so much more I want? What do I want? I want the good wine, it doesn’t have to be the best but a good $30 bottle instead of the… (I’m not even going to say since my integrity is at stake) to accompany a fantastic rib eye steak. A better and newer car would be good too like the fancy kind that come equipped with a GPS! Does anyone even know what a Thomas Guide is any more (am I the only one here raising my hand?) A bigger place to live too – not that I don’t like the condo we are in but come on, is it too much to want a house with a yard? Oh and a better job. Yep! A much better job! One that makes ends meet instead of making meet ends… or something like that. And how about the team I like actually winning a game or two (or 10).
O.K., do we really need more stuff? Are we on the quest for keeping up with the Jones’s instead of looking at all the little things that we really should be grateful for? Are the little things really “little things”? Is it right to relish the time between 6am and 7am when the sun is rising, the coffee is fresh and nobody is on your back yet (don’t answer that)? Are we afraid to slow down, stop, and smell the roses out of the worry that some other guy is going to move ahead of us in line?
Last year I had a colonoscopy (what Mazal!) and as I thought of the possible outcomes of this procedure and the testing that followed I began to reflect on my life and all those so called little things. What impeccable timing for an epiphany! I thought of G-d’s goodness: 1.) My healthy beautiful children whose precious hugs and kisses and cheerfulness make my days so much more enjoyable; all the while they are slowly destroying the contents of our humble abode. 2.) My wonderful husband who is the best father and mate a person could ever dream for. 3.) Then there are the family cars that take us were we need to go and which have proven to be extremely reliable (without the convenience of a GPS system). 4.) My cranky boss! That’s right! At least I have a job! Better a cranky boss then no boss! 5.) My little home sweet home. I’m sure there are some big homes out there in this great county of Orange whose residents do not get to experience the joy, peace and drama free tranquility that I am blessed to experience and I should recognize that size does not substitute for shalom in the home (for lack of a better term). Perhaps this realization made me feel quite foolish about not clinging to the beauty of the so called little things; yes, realizing enough to give myself a swift kick in the tuchas – colonoscopy notwithstanding.
While I’m still not one of those people that lights a candle at Thanksgiving and asks everyone to hold hands and chant a native Indian prayer, I still know that thanks and utmost gratitude should be given to G-d each and every day for every single blessing we enjoy. We should give thanks for the things we do not understand and the events in our lives that are yet to unfold. We should be thankful every single day for the miracle of being alive in the first place and for the purpose that each one of us has the ability to fulfill. With all of the pettiness that surrounds our every day lives; in the grand scheme of things, we are blessed beyond measure and it is time we (myself included) felt that way.
~M.D.