This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. We all have something that comes to mind when we think of Thanksgiving. Our family and friends, our church community, our work, our school life, our material blessings and our health just to name a few. Most of the time we think of positive things to be thankful for. But do you ever think of being thankful for things that seem to be on the other end of the scale.....the negative things?
Things such as unwanted rain or snow in the early fall, a planned trip that doesn't work out, a deal that falls apart, an accident that keeps you from getting somewhere on time, a bad encounter with a nasty person. I am pretty certain that for most of us, things like this don't actually come to mind when we think of being thankful. So we may conclude it isn't necessary to be thankful for the "bad" things that happen in our lives, just the good things.
But sometimes, the bad things "so called" are actually things that keep us from even worse experiences. Or sometimes they prepare us to better handle trouble around the corner. They may be things that test our metal so we can help someone else with their own burden. We perceive them to be bad but in point of fact, they really do have some value. In other words, they are, dare I say it, actually good though we don't perceive them to be so.
I once lost a listing on a house that I had worked pretty hard finding a buyer for. Soon after it was listed with another Realtor and sold. I recently heard that the buyer was taking the vendor to court for a claim of non disclosure of latent defects. Wow, I missed that little treat because of losing the listing. Was that bad or was it good? In retrospect, I kind of think it was good. Maybe it was all along, but it took a little while for me to see it.
Life is not supposed to be only a bed of roses. It was never intended to be a lifelong cruise into the sunset. Child birth should tell us that. After the pain of labour, a new child is given to you. How is that for a "good" bad?
Sooner or later there will be some trouble along the way for all of us. Life has its up hills and down hills. And if we understand that life is supposed to be that way, then maybe we can and maybe we should think of being thankful for the tough time too.
It's not like anyone is really out to get you. In fact, if that were the case, you could have been gotten long ago. No, it's all in how we think about the bad things. It's all about attitude toward our head winds, our trouble.
So, look at the good and bad things in your life and see if you can be thankful for them both. It might surprise you how being thankful for even the "bad" can transform your attitude and help you build character and endurance for the journey ahead. If you have not noticed, most of us know someone who has it worse than we do. The media are effective in showing us a few almost every day. So how can we really think that our "bad" experiences are all that bad really? It only takes a single glance at someone in a wheelchair for me to say "Why do I ever complain about anything? Thank you Lord for my life!"
And by the way, if I forget this tomorrow and you hear me make a complaint, please send me the link to this post because for sure you won't be the only one forgetting to be thankful for something unexpected, undesirable and challenging. Human nature being what it is, we can all use a reminder to be thankful once in a while. And that is what Thanksgiving is really all about. Remembering to be thankful for the good and even for the bad things that happen in our lives.
Do you agree or disagree? I will be thankful for whatever your comments are. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have lots to be thankful for! Well, most of us do anyway. I guess that turkey might think differently about Thanksgiving but I prefer not to think like a turkey.
Photo by Mauricio at http://blackberryrocks.com/2008/11/27/happy-thanksgiving/
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