Giving Thanks Challenge

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I can always find something to be thankful for, no matter the life storms I or my loved ones may be experiencing. It is also one of the few holidays that hasn't been bitten by total commercialization. Best of all, it is a time of family and friends gathering together to share their life blessings one with another, face-to-face or from afar. It is in this spirit that I accept the Giving Thanks Challenge.

The Challenge is an opportunity for me to show my gratitude for living and for me there is no better time to do that than during the season of Thanksgiving. Leah from South Breeze Farm is hosting this challenge, but I actually learned of this challenge from Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea.

The challenge is quite simple...There are (30) days in November, (30) reasons to feel thankful--add (1) to the list each day of the month. If you decide to join a few days into the month like I have, just catch up. And be sure to add the 2010 Giving Thanks Challenge Button to your blog so others can join in our sharing of thankfulness.

What things tug at your gratitude heartstrings? I do hope you'll share that which you are thankful for this November in a Giving Thanks Challenge post of your own.



 

GIVING THANKS:

1...I GIVE THANKS for the dawn of each new day, each new sunrise that opens up my eyes.

2...I GIVE THANKS for a special friend and roommate who has kept a roof over my head while I've been unemployed and while doing so has encouraged me to write and build my online businesses, Poetic Creations by abitosunshine! and abitosunshine Hosting and Design.

3...I GIVE THANKS for the love and devotion from my dog, Tidbit. She is my canine companion and soulmate, has been for a decade now.

4...I GIVE THANKS for the 9 years of silly sunshine my dog Scratch (Tidbit's daughter) gave me. Even though I lost her this past year, I carry her JOY within my spirit.

5...I GIVE THANKS for those family members who care to share their lives with me, even if only occasionally.

6...I GIVE THANKS for each day of life my son is granted, for each step he takes in the wake of his battle over addiction.

7...I GIVE THANKS for a few good friends who have stood by me through life trials and tumbles. Without them I would surely have crumbled.

8...I GIVE THANKS for those who inspire me to reach higher, for those who aMUSE and challenge me to attain my writing goals and share the gift I've been given.

9...I GIVE THANKS for each good memory of the past I can pull out of the rumble of my life storms.

10...I GIVE THANKS for Diane, her Giving Thanks Challenge post, which inspired me to want to do same. I awoke this morning with the sun shining and immediately whispered, "Thank you," and my next thought was of the many things a new day brings, beginning with my morning coffee at the computer with my writing ToDo List--first thing first ... Giving Thanks.

11...I GIVE THANKS for the military men and women of this nation, and for their families, all of whom sacrifice their very lives for me and mine.

12...I GIVE THANKS for afternoons such as yesterday's--spending time with my son and grandson, holding JOY in my arms; moments that will ever be held in my heart. Can you tell I am a first-time Grandmother?

13...I GIVE THANKS for the strength of hope found in my faith; sight unseen, yet known to me, the God of the heavens and of the earth shines bright, even in the darkest hour of the night. The power is held in the belief of Goodness, for I believe there is plenty good that grows in the earth beneath the sun in the sky.

14...I GIVE THANKS for the quiet of a Sunday morning--Serenity. Even though I live in a rural area, the road out front is the main road into town and is a highly traveled road.  But on Sunday mornings there is very little traffic as I sit at my computer sipping my coffee. Perfect peace is the feeling I get as I surf the net and glance out the window at the busy birds, scurrying squirrels, and country kitty cats. For the moment, all is well with my world.

15...I GIVE THANKS for the many friends I have met over the internet in the past decade. Many have been saviors of my sanity, in more ways than one. I am thankful for those social networks wherein I share my poetry, my writings, my thoughts, and my life.

16...I GIVE THANKS for having good sense--sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. And for the sixth sense--the hunch, the gut instinct, the intuition, the feeling--that innate instinct of right and wrong.

17...I GIVE THANKS for the houseplants that have survived my lack of a green thumb. I am at my computer surrounded in greenery ... Life!

18...I GIVE THANKS for Making $$$ Online! I've made enough this week to keep my car on the road for another month, hooRAYo!

19...I GIVE THANKS for chatting on the phone with a loved one. Now, you need to understand, I am NOT a phone person - send me an email! But, that occasional phone call, hearing a friend's voice, catching up, chatting about our lives, sharing a bit o' gossip - I do love it. Last night, I chatted with my brother Randy for an hour and right at this moment - I'm on the phone with my friend Karen. I am filled with glee and gratitude for the phone.

20...I GIVE THANKS for a good night of sleep, which I had last night! I have suffered insomnia most of my life, generally sleeping only four or fives hours a night, some night's not at all. So when I get in a good eight hours like last night, I'm floating on cloud nine.

21...I GIVE THANKS for my faith in God and my faith in the power of the Sun. I'm thankful for my beliefs and I am also thankful for my unbridled acceptance of the beliefs of others. Through my God and the Sun I have learned lessons of love.

22...I GIVE THANKS for my Aunt Martha Bell and the stories she tells. Tales of her past, my mother's past, my grandparents' past - my past, from whence we all came. I do hope to get her to record them so the stories live on, in her own voice, long after she is gone. I'm thinking we better get it done, for as she said last night, "I'm tired, Ruthi." And I know that she is and has every right to be so.

23...I GIVE THANKS for the lessons I've learned along my life pathway. Some of these life lessons were learned in a hard way; some were learned while I was hard at play; either way, I'm grateful for them all for they have made me the person I am today.

24...I GIVE THANKS for all net friends, near and far, who take the time and effort to share themselves online through the sharing of personalized emails, comments, stories, writings, talents -- the internet is a true blessing of friendship for me!

25...I GIVE THANKS for yet another day to just "be" -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING

26...I GIVE THANKS for the blessing of spending (yesterday) Thanksgiving with my Aunt Martha Bell and my roommate, Scott, who joined us. It was another special day of sharing memories and creating new ones to be remembered. I love my Aunt Martha Bell.

Now, if I can just figure out how to use this camera my friend Renda gave me, I'd be even more thankful, hahaha! I do thank you, Renda!

27...I GIVE THANKS for having known unconditional love here on earth. Of the canine kind with my dogs, Scratch and Tidbit, and of the human kind with my friends, Scott, Joe, Mark, and Terry. How I wish all relationships, whether romantic, family, friends, were all of this special quality of loving each other just the way that we are.

28...I GIVE THANKS for jigsaw puzzles. I always have one on the table being worked upon. Putting puzzles together reminds me a lot of living life, with each piece a part of the whole. Sometimes I glue them together to be framed for hanging on a wall; other times, back into the box the pieces go.

29...I GIVE THANKS for second chances; a third chance; and more. As the sun rises each day to start life anew, I, too, am given another chance at life renewal. Rebirthed each day--what a thing to be thankful for!

30...I GIVE THANKS for the Giving Thanks Challenge of 2010's month of November and all the things I am thankful for; I will remember.