Most Thanksgivings, the spread at our family meal is nothing short of fantastic. There are usually two different meats, corn, potatoes, noodles, salads, bread, and desserts of every kind. It’s a smorgasbord of all the best dishes my family members can create. Some of the treats prepared for this special day are ones I eat only during the holidays, so I savor those bites.
Among those tasty foods are some things that my palate does not appreciate. The green bean casserole, beloved by other family members, is a hard no from me. Any dish containing an onion I can see also does not make it onto my plate. If there’s a casserole present and I am unsure of the ingredients, I will skip it for something plain and safe. Should I mention that my husband says I eat like a five-year-old?
Whenever I leave the family gathering on Thanksgiving, I always go away with a full stomach. During the ride home, I will ask my husband if he tried this or that. I will rave about something I loved and complain about how I failed at self-control with my eating once again. I don’t bemoan the dishes that I did not want to try. They don’t get mentioned.
This year, I want to take that perspective with my gratitude. I want to look at the experiences of the past 12 months as a giant smorgasbord of my life. Some of the things I went through were plain, safe, and ordinary. I loved those days because I could depend on them to be nice and normal. There were a few days that were quite memorable and unique. We had special vacations or activities that occurred once in the year that I really loved.
Photo credit: Jediah Owen on Unsplash.com
There were a few days I didn’t like at all. The virus complicated things for my family for three weeks in January. School quarantines aggravated me more than once. My vehicle wasn’t so dependable a couple times this year. Then there was that day I was trapped in a gas station bathroom for a brief period.
Whenever I reflect on my life, there are times when I can focus on all the good and genuinely be grateful. There are other times when the bad occurrences are my focus, and I have fight to see any good.
This year, I want to see it all as a smorgasbord. There are some things I can choose to look at and reexamine because it was good. There are some things I can see laid out on the table before me but choose to pass over because I know I won't like it. There’s no need to revisit those challenging times. I survived them, but they don’t need to overshadow all of the good and happy moments of the past year.
It is my prayer that each of you will be able to dwell on the happy moments God has blessed you with and learn to focus less on those times that were not the best.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Evana is a wife and mother of two children. She enjoys serving in her church’s special-needs ministry. Evana is also a pediatric speech-language pathologist and serves children with autism, feeding disorders, and other developmental delays. You can connect with Evana on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog, A Special Purposed Life. You can also read more about her family’s story in her book, Badges of Motherhood: One Mother’s Story about Family, Down syndrome, Hospitals, and Faith.
