To Be Thankful

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I seriously can't believe that it is already the time of the year where we stuff ourselves till we almost burst and then fall into a daze once the triptofan hits :) While there are so many holidays that we celebrate throughout the year, Thanksgiving is one of  those holidays that seems to kick off the entire holiday season, full of life lessons, family, thanks, cheer, and Christmas spirit. However, before I get caught up in talking about Christmas lets turn back to Thanksgiving and reflect on what it truly means to be "thanful!" 

I have to say that the idea of Thankfulness has taken on an entirely different meaning for me over the past couple of weeks. I feel as though we often focus on being thankful for the good and positive things around us and try to forget about the things that might not have been all that great. However, I think that if we could start to focus on the things around us that might have started off as negative situations, we would soon find there are truly more things to be thankful fore than we realize! 

With that being said, I think it is important to be thankful for the blessings in our life, but at the same time, we should reflect on the things that we often fail to give thanks for, because they themselves are likely to be things we don't want in our lives. 

Keeping this idea in mind, on Thanksgiving day I am Thankful For......

1. The lady at the campus parking office who called me 10 minutes before my car almost got towed, and who also erased 8 of my 10 citations (that I didn't even know I had) from my parking account. 
2. The opportunity to work in college, have a steady salary and meet incredible people.
3. For friends who know exactly what I am thinking and who stick by me in difficult situations.
4. People, places, and things that stretch me beyond my comfort zone even though it might be the scariest thing EVER!
5. Opportunities....to meet new people and be a positive influence.
6. Being awkward (as unfortunate as it is sometimes) because without that side of me there would be no funny stories to tell....
7. Still being single....yes, I did just say that, but seriously being single is a time to cherish for its freedom and ability to be available and openly used by God. 
8. Only having 2 more semesters of college left.....yes that means that the future is looming ahead and I don't exactly know what will happen after graduation, but I am thankful for an uncertain future. 
9. Only living an hour away from my family!
10. Having a crazy family who laughs at the most ridiculous things, has the funniest inside jokes, and who baffles everyone that we meet with our closeness. 
11. Lessons...both good and bad, whether it is someone correcting my mistakes, learning from others mistakes around me, or simply learning general life lessons.
12. The Blogsphere....so much has happened over my time of starting the blog and I couldn't be more grateful for all of those experiences and for all of you who are such lovely and loyal supporters of the things I am passionate!
13. Coffee.....gotta throw that in there because it is a substance to surviving college (kind of) and being a "hug in a cup."
14. Valleys....valleys are the hard journeys of life that we don't want to be happy about and we want to feel down in the dumps about, but in order to reach a peak on the hill we have to first go through valleys. 
15. New phones....or might I say, an iPhone......yes, I just upgraded from my prehistoric slider phone. Let's just say I am SUPER happy:)
16. Parents who support me in college, in my interest, and in following my dreams.
17. Siblings who make life so much more interesting and who inspire me daily!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

What are the difficult things you are thankful for?

-Madison