Thankful Is As Thankful Does

Count your blessings.

Remember hearing that phrase your entire life? It certainly wasn’t what you wanted to hear when you were 10 and desperately needed a new bike.

Every year from basically right after Halloween through New Year’s Day, we celebrate thankfulness. It seems harder this year amid a government shutdown, a world on edge and all the screaming about how bad everything is.

To put us in a more gratified mood, marketers have provided us with holiday advertising since at least October 1. The ads, especially that early, are annoying because they remind us of more stuff we have to get ready for and the money and time we’ll need to do it. Halloween wasn’t even here yet.

However, if you can manage to tune out those ads, there’s a lot of good news and things to be thankful for. Of course, we’re thankful for the usual things such as family, friends, food and shelter. But there’s plenty more to be thankful for if you just drill down a bit.

Thanks for the Basics

The fall harvests are in. I’m no expert but if the crops are as good as the huge juicy Honeycrisp apples I had, we have a lot to be thankful for. I’m thankful that I found all the clocks that needed to be set back to CST. The hard part each time is determining which clocks set themselves and which ones are up to me.

I’m thankful that I was able to have another 1,000-mile year on my e-bike, just riding around town and on the Hay Creek and Flower Valley trails. I’m thankful for local services such as the local bike shop for my tune-ups and tires. With abundant rain our yard has never looked better, although it seems like I mowed twice as often this year. At least where we live, it’s been a remarkable run of good weather.

I am also thankful and amazed at all the new discoveries. Weight-loss drugs that actually work. New hope for cures of chronic and fatal diseases. And prices coming down on some recent medications that were previously unaffordable. New discoveries about the universe from powerful telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope. The amazing photos from it can be a real day-brightener.

Probably one of the most significant developments is artificial intelligence (AI). While there is a lot of concern about how it can be detrimental, I’m thankful for all the possibilities it brings. Everything is being analyzed by AI to search for things that can improve our lives. Add in the development of quantum computing and we might get answers faster than we can think up questions.

AI shouldn’t be used to write school papers but should it be allowed in researching a paper? The use of AI in schools is similar to past issues with student use of pocket calculators and smartphones. I bet most of us are thankful for those tools.

Thanks for Life’s Challenges

I’m actually grateful for these new challenges, any of which could be used for good or bad. But that’s what we face in life and I’ll take that risk any day. How boring life would be if we never tried new things. We innately know that these new ways of life are always coming. It’s just hard to keep up with it all.

This is my first full year of not having to deal with the mess of oil or gas. Electric cars, battery-operated lawn mower, snowblower and tools have eliminated that. I’m thankful that I should never have to crawl under a car again.

I’m actually thankful that we had to have a leak repaired in our basement because it has forced us to finally remodel the whole thing. I’m sure my new man cave will be on my “2026 things I’m thankful for” list.

We should all be thankful for the small victories, even the near misses. Maybe you got the new mailbox installed but you ran out of time to paint the porch. At least you bought the paint.

Don’t forget to thank others for all they do. It isn’t difficult, even for stoic Scandinavians. And you can show your thanks by making donations where it will help others such as to a coat shed or food shelf.

I’m already thankful for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner when the whole house will smell like turkey. I’ll be salivating from the first whiff until we’re finally encouraged to gorge ourselves.

Finally, I’m thankful to the people who read this column, whoever and wherever you are.