Give Thanks by Abby Sanderson

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie-it all brings us back to one fond memory: Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks; to be appreciateve of everything and everyone you have. Many are very practiced in giving thanks, while many of us could use a little work.

I will use myself as an example. I was having a n awful week. The week decided to say hello to me with cramps. Fun. The next day was my sister's birthday party and I realized the camera was missing and had been missing for a few days. Fantastic. The next day I got to school and found out I had misplaced both my assignment book, and my physics folder. Glorious. I have this tendency to lose things. In less than a week I managed to lose a camera, my assignment book, my physics folder and my eraser for a brief couple of days. How I managed to do this surpasses me. Because of these inconveniences, I will admit that I was cranky for a few days. I moped around, feeling sorry for myself. Out of all the people in the world: "Why me?"

I was in sociology one of those days and our student teacher showed us a video of a man whose song hanged himself. I tried to put myself in that position but found it impossible to start to imagine to feel what that father felt.

After watching the clip, I sat there for a while and thought about all the things I was angry about. Three stuck out in my mind: a camera, an assignment book, and a physics folder. Although these three things are valuable to me, other things take precedence. I started to think of countless things I could lose which would make the situation much worse than it was. What if, on top of losing my camera, my assignment book, and my physics folder, someone I loved was hurt? My arm got chopped off? My kitty went on vacation? All of a sudden I felt extremely guilty and selfish and dramatic for making such a big deal. I thought about it and concluded that it wouldn't really be the end of the world if I had to live without an assignment book.

Instead of focusing on all of the negative things in my life, and asking, "Why me?" I started focusing on all of the positives. I started thinking of all the things I could be thankful for. I have family and friends whom I love and who love me. I have a home. It's not a fancy home, but it's my home. I have a bed to sleep in at night. I'm able to eat three times a day. now if I was missing these things, I might have something to mope around about.

This story has a happy ending. It actually taught me a lesson. Once I stopped being so negative about losing my things, I just sort of settled down and focused on what mattered and what was good in life. Then, miraculously, my camera ended up being in a friend's car, my physics folder and assingment book were under a journalism desk, and a friend found my beloved eraser in a couch.

During Thanksgiving think of the things really matter. Don't think about you camera. Cameras and assignment books and so many other things that people complain about are material things that can be replaced one way or another. No matter how bad your day is going, or how many things you are losing, there is always something to be thankful for. There is always something, big or small, that you can smile about. Whether you're thankful you don't have a math test, or you're thankful that you get to eat tonight, there's always something. So give thanks!




Abby is two things, my sister and an excellent writer. I have asked permission to post an article she wrote for the Broboca, the Brookings High School newspaper. If you have any thanksgiving stories, comments, or questions, feel free to post a comment and share your thoughts.