Where I live now there is no Thanksgiving Day but I grew up in that world & remember some things fondly, including Mrs. Wertheimer’s roast goose once and my father’s Thompson Turkey dinners many times. But today, where it is now 28 Nov, I am most grateful for something else. My haphazard non-linear life somehow handed me a way at age 70 to help a number of younger people have much better lives than they had before or maybe even thought possible before. Today, they are healthier & better educated & safer than otherwise. That alone has made the ten years since the most meaningful of a life otherwise notable primarily for its unrealized potential. So today, I don’t need a turkey dinner. I am already thankful.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts, Max. It's so special that you've had the opportunity to help these young people and make a real difference in their lives. Of all the things to be grateful for, that might be the biggest—the chance to help someone else and to make their life better, in however small a way.
Your story reminds me a bit of the Kurosawa movie Ikiru, where a man sees that he hasn't realized his potential for most of his life and decides to dedicate the last 6 months to really making a positive difference for others.
Also I agree that Thanksgiving is kind of arbitrary and that gratitude can (and should!) be felt any day of the year. Thank you for reading!
Beautiful work as always, Ramya. In counting things to be grateful for today - reading your words will be very high on my list.
And also, I definitely do think there can be a happy middle with Gratitude and Ambition.
Personally, I like to think of this with a comparison to the pursuit of beauty too - because obviously, beauty in this life never comes in only a single shade.
In fact, we can actually understand beauty best when we start to realise how it can be found in endless variations (i.e everything from nature, to art, to buildings, to people, starlight, sunsets and so on).
So, to some extent, I think it's the same with gratitude too.
Pursuing more does not necessarily mean we become any less grateful for what we have already - it is just part of our process of exploring how many ways we can experience this feeling.
That's so kind, thank you, George, as always for being so encouraging!
I love this view on gratitude, and the comparison with beauty is so apt. It's so true that beauty can be found everywhere, in so many different ways, once one starts to look for it, and when one starts to look for things to be grateful for, one starts finding them everywhere too. Definitely agree that wanting more doesn't negate being grateful for what we already have and that the two don't have to be opposed.
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave such a thoughtful comment <3
Thank you for your beautiful words,your writings always bring me the coolest mental pictures! I'm very,very grateful for my three cats that make everything better,having a place to live and food(I've been homeless a few times),and still being in the world...I'm 62...and books! Looking forward to more of your writing;Happy Thanksgiving to you!
aw thank you so much, Sandra, I'm so glad! It's definitely the "basic" things like food and shelter that we tend to take for granted but that are so, so incredibly important and invaluable. Hope you (and the cats!) have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Ramya, as always what a profound thinking! I could not take a break once I started reading this piece, and bang! The ending- “ A man who cannot appreciate a cottage does not deserve a skyscraper. Perhaps acceptance is the only solid foundation on which ambition can be built. ” so much meaning in your words - acceptance and appreciation helps us move forward cherish our ambitions and aim for better. I am thankful for your ‘soul making’.
Where I live now there is no Thanksgiving Day but I grew up in that world & remember some things fondly, including Mrs. Wertheimer’s roast goose once and my father’s Thompson Turkey dinners many times. But today, where it is now 28 Nov, I am most grateful for something else. My haphazard non-linear life somehow handed me a way at age 70 to help a number of younger people have much better lives than they had before or maybe even thought possible before. Today, they are healthier & better educated & safer than otherwise. That alone has made the ten years since the most meaningful of a life otherwise notable primarily for its unrealized potential. So today, I don’t need a turkey dinner. I am already thankful.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and thoughts, Max. It's so special that you've had the opportunity to help these young people and make a real difference in their lives. Of all the things to be grateful for, that might be the biggest—the chance to help someone else and to make their life better, in however small a way.
Your story reminds me a bit of the Kurosawa movie Ikiru, where a man sees that he hasn't realized his potential for most of his life and decides to dedicate the last 6 months to really making a positive difference for others.
Also I agree that Thanksgiving is kind of arbitrary and that gratitude can (and should!) be felt any day of the year. Thank you for reading!
Beautiful work as always, Ramya. In counting things to be grateful for today - reading your words will be very high on my list.
And also, I definitely do think there can be a happy middle with Gratitude and Ambition.
Personally, I like to think of this with a comparison to the pursuit of beauty too - because obviously, beauty in this life never comes in only a single shade.
In fact, we can actually understand beauty best when we start to realise how it can be found in endless variations (i.e everything from nature, to art, to buildings, to people, starlight, sunsets and so on).
So, to some extent, I think it's the same with gratitude too.
Pursuing more does not necessarily mean we become any less grateful for what we have already - it is just part of our process of exploring how many ways we can experience this feeling.
That's so kind, thank you, George, as always for being so encouraging!
I love this view on gratitude, and the comparison with beauty is so apt. It's so true that beauty can be found everywhere, in so many different ways, once one starts to look for it, and when one starts to look for things to be grateful for, one starts finding them everywhere too. Definitely agree that wanting more doesn't negate being grateful for what we already have and that the two don't have to be opposed.
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave such a thoughtful comment <3
What a beautiful read. I needed this right now. Thank you for sharing it. ❤️
thank you so much, Colleen! <3
Thank you for your beautiful words,your writings always bring me the coolest mental pictures! I'm very,very grateful for my three cats that make everything better,having a place to live and food(I've been homeless a few times),and still being in the world...I'm 62...and books! Looking forward to more of your writing;Happy Thanksgiving to you!
aw thank you so much, Sandra, I'm so glad! It's definitely the "basic" things like food and shelter that we tend to take for granted but that are so, so incredibly important and invaluable. Hope you (and the cats!) have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Gratitude is so important to stay grounded and happy in this life 🤍 a beautiful read!
yes, definitely! Thank you so much, Maria, I'm glad you enjoyed!
Ramya, as always what a profound thinking! I could not take a break once I started reading this piece, and bang! The ending- “ A man who cannot appreciate a cottage does not deserve a skyscraper. Perhaps acceptance is the only solid foundation on which ambition can be built. ” so much meaning in your words - acceptance and appreciation helps us move forward cherish our ambitions and aim for better. I am thankful for your ‘soul making’.