Happy Thanksgiving

~ Live & Learn

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The email message arrived a few days ago. The sender and the location were all unidentifiable. Yet, the message was deeply personal. I read it in the silence of the early morning hours, both hands resting on top of the desk, my breath slowing as my eyes worked down the page.

“I’ve been following your blog since early 2013.  After a series of your “life is a miracle” shares, I felt I needed to reach out. While our core beings are quite similar in that our hearts’ beat, our body temperatures hover in comparable ranges, and our bodies crave food and water, many of us depart from here in our day-to-day existences…

If I’m sitting and looking out from your perch, I would enjoy the view. Married, family, job.  Fridge full of food. A warm house for shelter. Good health. A community of Followers and bloggers to banter with and share inspirations…

Kierkegaard would say that the yardstick for a human being is how long and to what degree he can bear to be alone. I continue to be tested by this yardstick. I’m quite alone. My effectiveness in bearing it? Let’s say it’s day-to-day, and I’m doing so without the benefit of your accoutrements. Yet, I find my peace, and I accept my position in this Life…swallowing hard on my down days.

Look around. I mean really look around and take stock of your life. All of this can change. It can change at any moment. And it can turn very badly. It did for me… Be grateful Now for your blessings as you have many.

[NO CLOSING SIGNATURE OR SALUATION]

Friend, if I can take the liberty of calling you that, you’ve left me Still and without many words, and I’m thankful for your message. Where ever you are and who ever you may be, on this Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., may you find nourishment, may you have shelter and warmth, and may you be surrounded by the love of family and friends.

Photograph Source: Murrskeez

 

39 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving”

  1. Wow very moving and heartfelt honesty. My thoughts are with this writer. Life can change in a moment as I know. Believing you can survive the changes that leave you devastated is what we cannot change in someone but hopefully we can encourage others to know there is hope and peace to be found amidst the darkness.

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  2. Our life’s force, to continue forward each day is strong, even when faced with multiple challenges. I admire & am thankful to witness, the strength, dignity, gratitude, care, respect & wisdom that you and your email contributor convey to each other in your mutual correspondence. As we journey along, being refined in our respective lives may we all be willing to extend compassion, be patient, be kind, count our blessings & may nourishing human interaction touch each persons heart, daily. Life is truly a remarkable gift. To the email contributor – May inner-peace continue to be evident in your life.

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    1. Thank you Christie. I just read a passage in Anne Lamott’s book (“Small Victories: Spotting Improbably Moments of Grace) where she stated that “We’re not what we do, but what we receive. I felt like I received a remarkable gift with his unsolicited email. You captured my blessing beautifully in your comment.

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  3. I honor this man’s perspective this morning…and in many ways he underscores why humility and a hearty dose of gratitude for the moments in which we live amidst love and health and creature comforts are the only true requirements we have. For it all spins on a dime as he so rightly notes – and when it does, it is the ethereal element of hope that sustains. Hope that loneliness will dissipate and be replaced with affiliation, hope that emptiness will be replaced with fulfillment, etc. I wish this writer so very much – relief from his pain, safe shelter and a harbor filled with friendship.

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  4. It goes along the lines of “you haven’t loved until you’ve lost”, and “from loss comes strength”. Personally I have found great strength and perhaps some wisdom from suffering and loss, and with that, the true feelings of thankfulness have become more relevant and true. That message from the unknown friend could apply to so many in the first world, and it would be nice to consider that today of all days, folk take a moment to reflect on what they really have to be thankful for, rather than tables stuffed with more food than 10 families could survive on, fists full of $$$, houses, cars etc

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  7. everything is temporary for all of us and we must enjoy every moment of it and be thankful and never, ever take anything for granted. my wish for this writer is to find a peace and kinship within his/her world, and a connection to others that bring a sense of belonging and love. hugs to you, dear writer, for your honesty and for reaching out. people do care, they really do.

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  11. A very timely message for this day…and yes to all that has been said already. Holidays are a tough time when a person’s journey has taken a difficult turn. I’ve been there like so many others and this holiday, today, is a bit of the same. It is true that at our core we are very similar, and yet our circumstances are all so different. But I believe that there is still always something to be grateful for and we can find that when we begin to look outside ourselves. Happy Thanksgiving David.

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  12. Very moving piece. It feels as though he will not enjoy the closeness of friends and family on Thanksgiving, and will likely be short on physical and emotional nourishment as well. But the power he holds is acceptance and bearing.

    Thanks for sharing this moving, humbling piece.

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  14. Hmm. As someone closer to this man on the spectrum of Life Perspective, I know that being alone is often a choice and that lack creates bitterness. The comment is a kick-in-the-nuts reminder to be grateful for all we have, but I feel the writer is also scolding you for having what he doesn’t. Be careful how much you take this to heart.

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    1. Smiling. I edited out some of the passages of his email that drifted into disclosure of some personal issues but I continued to be inspired by his grace. As to the kick-in-the-you-know-what, I so agree.

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  17. David – thanks for sharing this timely and painful piece.

    I am struck by the deep humanity of this person .. they have testified clearly and directly to our tendency to forget the range of life which occurs every day, just beyond our eyes and our thoughts.

    The most impressive part for me: No hint of resentment, anger, or selfishness. Just honest and searing sharing of something that had to be shared.

    Much to think about into our futures …

    John

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  19. As so many others have said, wow oh wow. This missive really goes to show that you never know who’s listening and watching your actions, and what may seem like a ‘throw away comment’ or ‘given’ could be so very big in someone else’s life. I spent the holidays with extended family for the first time in a long time, and I was reminded anew of how few things one actually needs to be happy, and how very important it is to remember to be grateful, always grateful…..

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