Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving

Good Morning!
Happy Thanksgiving to all! What am I thankful for? Hmmm. Well, I suppose just waking up each day is a good place to start. In fact, I say it out loud every morning,"Thank you, Lord, for this day." I usually follow with, "please help me get through it." I recall long ago, when I was
selling lightbulbs over the phone (one of my many menial previous jobs), a co-worker of mine would say, "I'm breathing and vertical," which I got a kick out of.
I have a family that loves me, we are all reasonably healthy (I have some health issues, which
I'll discuss later, but for the most part, we're all healthy). I am gainfully employed, which is a blessing, I suppose. I mean, putting food on the table has always been a struggle for me. Now, over the past four or five years, I've been able to be a "good provider." I'm grateful for that; it makes me I feel like "a man." The fact that I hate my job doesn't really enter into the equation. I go to work, do my job to the best of my ability, then go home. I try not to whine and compain about every little thing, because it doesn't help matters. If there are serious safety issues, then yes, I'll bring it to the attention of my supervisors, but other than that...
I am also thankful for the world of opportunities to which God has opened my eyes. I am not necessarily a "religious" person, but I truly believe God is present in my daily life, revealing things to me that perhaps others don't see. I don't hear voices, or have visions, or anything like
that, just certain things that happen, for me, are divine intervention. I could use the word "omen," in the positive sense, but I choose to believe they are from God. I try to be aware
of these happenings, and thank God when I realize them. It might be something as simple as a
beautiful, sunny day, perfect driving weather, or light traffic on the expressways in Chicago -(always a blessing, but far too rare!) there's God, working on my behalf.
The world is a big, beautful place, with an endless potential for good. I try real hard to see the good in others, really, but it's becoming more and more difficult. I find that I'm an angry
person when I'm working, when generally I'm not. I mean, I'm constantly cursing other drivers for being idiots (an EXTREME euphemism), and saying to myself "Can you believe this f'ing sh*t, when confronted with a problem or screwup by someone else. I don't know, perhaps I am angry and don't realize it. So again I ask God for help, to be more self-aware, and I thank God
every week for delivering me home safely.
More soon,

Steve