To be Thankful for All We Have

Whether kids or adults, there is always something about making wishes and asking for something from Santa at Christmas. 

As Christmas is the season of love and giving, it is totally normal.

We spend the whole year saving up to reward ourselves at Christmas.  We wait with anticipation for a special gift under the tree at Christmas. 

We wish in stars and secretly hope Santa saw our secret notes asking for something at Christmas.

All of that is okay and normal

However, this year has been an eventful year, for lack of better words.

As the world was trying to settle into the year, it was hit with a pandemic nobody (well, almost nobody) saw coming.

The pandemic has swept through the world, shaking it up and leaving deaths in its wake.

It shook the very core of our existence

We went from people who voluntarily isolated ourselves to people who were forced to isolate ourselves. 

We lost ourselves. The world was vulnerable.  Nobody signed up for the pandemic,  and so, we were all caught unaware.

The pandemic left us feeling raw and exposed. We went from making plans to making facemasks and hand sanitizer.

Slowly , we began to adjust, not the most ideal of situations,but we tried.

With this year came a sense of awareness for a lot of persons. The realization that we are more vulnerable than we ever thought was a jolt of reality. A lot of persons began to prioritize,  some things are not necessary, and some things are very important.

The true meaning of life, friendship and love began to become clear to everyone.

With what the world has experienced this year, Christmas comes with a different air.

Perhaps, this is not the year we ask for anything. 

With everything that has happened this year, the greatest gift we have is the gift of being alive. 

In a year where people faced death without the presence of their loved ones, it becomes a wonderful privilege to be alive.

That is why this not the Christmas we ask for much. Rather this is the Christmas we are grateful for a lot. This is the Christmas we count our blessings.

This Christmas , instead of asking for something money can buy , count the things money cannot buy.

We should count our families and loved ones and be grateful. As long as this year goes, Thanksgiving should  not stop in November,  but continue all the way to the end of the year. 

This is the year thay despite exposing the world’s vulnerability,  it also showed the world’s strength and resilience. 

Its ability to be together despite being apart physically. It showed the world’s ingenuity in using everything that is at its disposal to make life works despite the odds.

This is why we should be grateful, for every win we got when it seemed like all we were doing was losing. We should be grateful that in all of the things that have happened this year, we are still here