Thankful

I am not writing this post to express gratitude. I am not writing this post to push my religion at anyone. That's not what this blog is for. Besides, if I felt like I needed to express my gratitude for my blessings, I think I'd have a problem. Because the way I see it, if you're truly grateful for something, it shows in everything you do. It shows in the way you interact with people. It shows in the attitude you have when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night. True gratitude isn't a feeling. It's a lifestyle. When a person is truly grateful, you can see it in their face, hear it in their voice and feel it in their presence. A person who is truly grateful makes you feel grateful just by being with them. I have friends like this. They are the friends I like being around the most.

These past few months have been full of trials. My family has experienced some truly trying things. Things that no family should have to go through. Some things that were expected but still sad and hard to deal with. A lot of people may say that we have every right to feel sorry for ourselves. Maybe we have every right to complain. Everybody knows how much I like to complain...

One thing I don't like is being depressed. I don't like wallowing (my family may tell you otherwise). I like a good cry now and then, but I don't like feeling depressed or down in the dumps. Dumps are no fun. Dumps stink. Dumps are rotten and festering and they are no place for people. Nothing was ever solved by feeling sorry for yourself. And I've learned that if you let that feeling stick around, it grows and evolves until it becomes something really disgusting and ugly. I don't like it at all.

Someone once told me that the easiest way to feel happy is to be grateful. So when we got our first bombshell a few months ago, I had my cry. I was sad. Anyone would be. But nothing was ever solved by being sad. You could argue that nothing is really ever solved by being happy either. But don't burst my bubble. Being happy has gotten me a long way lately. Because I decided I didn't want to be sad. We all did. I believe that we are given trials for a reason. Sometimes they are the result of choices we've made. Sometimes they are the result of the choices of others. And sometimes we are just tried. But the test isn't the trial itself. The test is how we choose to face the trial...if we choose to face it at all.

We always have a choice. My mom is an awesome example of the right way to face a trial. She always says, "Things will work out. Things will be all right. Because the alternative is for things not to be all right and that's not an option. So everything will be all right." Call it optimism. Call it naivete. I choose to believe her. My mom is so wise. Because that is how we take things in the Coleman house. And we're pretty happy. We're pretty crazy and random too. But at least we're happy while we're at it!

With that attitude, the Colemans press on. And it came as quite a surprise a few weeks ago, when I realized that I had nothing to complain about. I have my family. I have my friends. I have my faith. I have music. The list goes on. I said this wasn't an "I'm thankful for..." post, but I think I may have lied. Because I am thankful for gratitude. I am thankful for that woman who told me that the easiest way to feel happy is to be grateful. Because boy, was she right. Gratitude is the best, you guys. Life is good...and to my surprise...I can't complain. Seriously!

Happy Thanksgiving! May it be a thankful one!