Happy Thanksgiving!!!

"For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm not going to expound at great length about the history behind Thanksgiving. If you're curious enough, you can look it up ( like, Google it ) on the Internet. I come across this annual event, from books I've read and movies I've watched. Little did I know that I get to experience it first-hand. There's really nothing extraordinary about it, other than to give thanks, I suppose. Families usually have get-together ( of course, if respective schedules permits ). Turkey dinner and all the trimmings are there. Then there's also this thing, about it being a holiday, which means a long weekend, for those who works from Mondays to Fridays.

After living here in Canada for the past two years, I realized that when you're grateful, it is easier to be generous and look at the brighter side of things. I'm not saying that this realization happen overnight. I continually work at it everyday. Sometimes, when things are downright tough, you need enough resolve to still be thankful, no matter what.

"No matter how easy or hard our current conditions, we all have a wealth of simple blessings around us - waiting to be counted. As we do, our happiness grows. Our gratitude expands. And each day becomes a breath-taking gift." ( from The Secret Letters of the Monk who sold his Ferrari )

I'm THANKFUL  for...

EACH SINGLE DAY. The fact that I still hear my alarm go off every morning is reason enough to be grateful. Otherwise, everything doesn't matter.

My FAMILY back home. Sometimes, it can be exasperating and frustrating to deal with them. But then, "You don't love your family  because they're kind and considerate. You love them because they're your family." ( from Fall of Giants )

The FRIENDS I have and will have in the future. I'm at the point in my life, where a friend does not necessarily mean someone I hang out with everyday and do stuff, rather, someone whom I'm sure will have my back ( and vice versa ).

BOOKS and the love for READING.Without them, my life is incomplete.

RUNNING. It has help me become a better person. Not to mention, giving me that extra jolt of "runner's high".

For my WORK and the PEOPLE I've come to know ( and even live with ) through it. I've been blessed to be well-taken care of, that sometimes, I thought I'm being spoiled. :-)

HIM. For allowing me to be here and live life. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!