My mother is one of those people who has every right to complain. She’s 85-years old and her body is wearing out. She needs a walker to get around these days. She has macular degeneration that has taken most of her eyesight. For a person who loves to read, loves to bird watch, and loves to watch TV….blindness is particularly painful. The hardest part, the most difficult thing she has lived through, is losing her daughter (my older sister) to cancer about 3-years ago. I know she’s struggled with depression in the past, though it never incapacitated her. It’s amazing depression doesn’t simply crush her considering all that she’s dealt with.
In truth, she probably fights it more than I realize. She definitely has difficult days. But overall, she’s surprisingly upbeat for a person who openly admits she longs to move on to heaven. She can laugh, she can tease, she can joke, and she brightens up around friends, family, little kids and gentle dogs.
I asked her, “Mom, how is it that you fight off being depressed? How do you push that sadness away?”
Her answer was simple, “I’m thankful. Whenever I feel down, I start to think about all the things that I’m thankful for. I’m thankful for good parents who cared for me, a life of travel, children that love me, a warm home, and for knowing where my next meal is coming from. I’m thankful for friends, for the fascinating people that I’ve met, and most of all, for the grace of God. There is a lot to be thankful for and I dwell on that when I’m down. It seems to work.”
And that, my friends, is a great thing to contemplate this Thanksgiving. May you too be thankful!