I celebrated thanksgiving dinner with friends yesterday evening, and one of the questions asked was, “what are you thankful for?” The conversation was sidetracked well before it came time for me to answer, but it had been the exact question I’d been asking myself in an unfinished blog entry mere hours before. I wasn’t able to come up with a satisfactory answer in either situation, and it’s not because I’m not thankful for what I have or don’t have anything to be thankful for. I regularly write lists of things I am grateful for as a reminder to myself to appreciate the things I have because it’s important to do this on a regular basis. It’s a check-in with myself through good times, and it sees me through the bad.

Thanksgiving is one of those times of year when I can’t help but compare my current circumstances to the previous year and reflect on the changes. Looking back I realize I am grateful that life is changeable, that good and bad things aren’t etched in stone forever, and life brings each of us the things we didn’t even know to ask for.