This year’s Thanksgiving Day will be one for the history books. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade will be virtual. We are encouraged by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to have small gatherings, remotely  or none  at all. Black Friday store sales will be more online to avoid large crowds. And even the iconic holiday classic Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving special didn’t air on regular  TV but on PBS and Apple +. Additionally, these last few months have been hard, stressful and even depressing for a lot of people. Many of us have been isolated at home, dealing with economic ups and downs, work challenges, political and racial unrest. It has been an incredible year and that’s putting it mildly! We still got a whole month left to go before 2020 is over. Yet in the midst of all of this having an attitude of gratitude is so important to maintain hope and resilience. Thanksgiving Day is today and there are so many things to be grateful for during this pandemic.

To start off. The fact that I can write this blog post about being thankful in the first place! I can start right here because a year ago this blog didn’t even exist. I was working my way toward it and prior to it was just an idea that I had in my head. But here I am a year later; producing something that I am very thankful and proud to possess. This blog and website have stretched me. It has been challenging and wonderful all at the same time.

Another thing I think about is my basic necessities. I remember when this pandemic started and everyone was panic shopping toilet tissue. You remember that don’t you? Well, it seems that has slowed down a bit, or at least where I live. Online grocery shopping is still touch and go but when I go in person, I do get the items I need and I am so grateful for that. I do remember when the shelves were bare to empty and that has improved. I go into the grocery store more grateful now, especially when I see an item that was out of stock for a long time.

I am grateful for my telemedical appointments with doctors. During this pandemic I have been able to continue my medical care and have Zoom calls with my doctors. Additionally, In the last few months I have been meeting with a physical therapist to help with my right knee pain. As a result of those visits the pain is virtually gone and I have learned how to strengthen my body, improve my posture and balancing. I feel so much better not just physically but mentally too. I realized that I don’t have to live in pain. For a long time, I would just push through and now I know that is unnecessary and unwise.

During this pandemic many people have struggled with finding things to do to occupy their time. Well, for me it has been the opposite. I am so grateful for a full, rich and rewarding life. I have plenty of things to do. A variety of things that I can focus on each day-from my writing work, to reading interesting books, listening to a wide variety of podcasts, watching audio described movies and keeping up with friends and family. I got a lot on my plate. I have actually had to work on scaling back and learning ways to remove things and not allow stuff to stress me out if I don’t get to it.

So, today I encourage you to pause and think about what you are grateful for. It is easy to focus on all the things that are going wrong and are not happening. But take this time to concentrate on the goodness in the world. The things that bring you joy and pleasure. The people that you love and cherish. Even during a pandemic there are plenty of things to be thankful for in life.