Happy Thanksgiving! Will you choose to be thankful today?

Once again it's officially the "Holiday Season." Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is underway. That's the milestone we use each year. We wish you all the warmest, most desirable and wonderful holidays ever. Don't forget to share what you have with those who have less.

we're grateful for November sunrises like this

Photo by J. Harrington

This morning we're trying to decide if it's time to be grateful that Minnesota's North Country has found a solution to global warming. This season our skies have been cloudy almost all day, almost every day. Yesterday's sunrise looked sort of like the picture above. Today we couldn't find a sunrise, the clouds are so solid and thick, but we are grateful we are free to choose to be cheerful regardless. [Read Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”] If sunlight is limited to around 10% or 20% of normal, does that solve climate disruption? Probably not, since the solution needs to be global, right?

With that out of the way, we can think of no better wish for all of us this season than to note and live by Frankl's observation and to choose to live in a way like the following:

Max Ehrmann

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

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