The art of gratitude

Counting your blessings is a talent. It's not something that comes naturally to us as humans. We are hardwired to anticipate the next danger, our ears pricked, hairs raised, waiting to slay the dragon. We let down our guard and that's when the bad things happen. It is an important part of our nature, this vigilance, but it must not be all consuming. It is equally important to be able to pull back and live the present, not the one as monitored by social media or the news, but the moment as we experience it in real time, in real life. I have a trick I've recently learned for when I get overwhelmed by all the noise from outside and my own inability to affect a positive change over things beyond my control: I stop and try to think how life would be without all the gadgets that make my knowledge of these affairs possible. And how without them I would be attending to the matters at hand. At my hand. Worrying about those people I can help, feeding people I can see. This Thanksgiving for me will be spent being grateful for the love and support of my family, the unwavering loyalty from my friends and the bounty that which the earth has bestowed upon us. Tomorrow, I will get back to slaying dragons, er, sandwiches.