This is our second pandemic Thanksgiving, after the first was effectively cancelled. In honour of being able to get back to some semblance of normal this year, I thought I’d head into the weekend having made a list of some of the things I’m most thankful for right now.

I’m thankful for the time I get to spend with loved ones.

We’ve had some health scares in my family recently, and it’s really put into perspective just how precious our time on this Earth is. We always think we have more time, and so we have a tendency to put off gathering, or reaching out, telling ourselves “I’ll do it next week.”

But what if there was no “next week?”

For me, that was almost the case a few times. I’m so thankful that it wasn’t, and that I still get the chance to talk to those members of my family. Many of us will be getting together this Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I’m grateful for that too.

I’m thankful for the love and support of my amazing wife.

I don’t know where I’d be without her, honestly. Probably 300 pounds, depressed and lying on a crappy futon, and covered in a smattering of Goldfish crackers.

My wife is my everything. She is my voice of reason when I’m being irrational, my moral compass when I’m veering off-course, a culinary trail-blazer that has weaned me off a diet that consisted solely of pasta, Goldfish crackers and Subway sandwiches.

I’ve heard that bachelors have shorter lifespans than married men, and with the diet I was living off when I was single, it’s easy to see why. I’m not just thankful that I’ll live longer for being married to my wife though… I’m thankful for the fact that she makes me want to live longer, because it means we get to spend that much more time together.

I’m thankful I have a good job where I’m surrounded by great people.

It’s true that we spend about a third of our waking hours at work, and that would be an incredibly painful realization if you work with people you don’t like spending time with. I’m thankful that the opposite is true for me; I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by some really incredible people, many of whom I call friends outside of our working relationship.

I’m thankful to have the opportunity to experiment with so many different hobbies.

I’m lucky enough to have the time, the space and the resources to allow me to experiment with all kinds of different hobbies. Some of these I’ve stuck with over the years: photography, writing, martial arts. Others, I learned probably aren’t going to be a priority for me: woodcarving, lookin’ at you.

All of these things help to give me some perspective on who I am, and I’m incredibly thankful that I even get the chance to philosophize on that topic at all.

I’m thankful to have true friends.

The kind that would give the shirts off their backs for you – and vice versa. The kind that would be there at 3am if you called with an emergency. The kind that, if need be, you can ask a favour “no-questions-asked.” You know who you are. I’m thankful and lucky to be able to call you friends.

Wrapping it Up

Thanksgiving shouldn’t be the only time of year that we reflect and count our blessings… but it is an important reminder to pause. Breathe. And think consciously about all that we have, and all that we’re grateful for. For most of us, when you stop whatever else you’re doing and actively work on making a list of these things, we realize that that list is actually way longer than we might have thought.

Guess that’s one more thing I’m thankful for. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?