I had a wonderful Thanksgiving last year. In fact, it was one of the best I’ve had in a while even though I never really had a bad one. This one however, was different because a few months ago, I really wasn’t looking forward to the holidays or my upcoming birthday due to losing my job and the depression I felt because of it. As the months have passed I started to feel better about my situation because I knew that it wasn’t my destination in life. My life coach was instrumental in helping me out of that mindset although I had long made my way out of my depressive fog. I learned to live in the moment more and appreciate it. I would often think about how when I was working that while I had the money, I didn’t always have the time but now that I was in between gigs, I have less money but more time on my hands. I decided to take advantage of this new found extra time. I learned to live in the moment. To enjoy it. I learned to enjoy downtime with my family more.
When my favorite aunt came down from Sacramento to visit, I made sure to cherish every moment especially since I haven’t seen her in years. Before my aunt’s visit, my mom informed me that they were going to take her down to Mobile to visit my aunt and uncle. I had made it known that I wanted to go with them seeing that I A.) Haven’t seen my aunt and uncle nor have I been to Mobile in years. B.) I could use the change of scenery. When the topic came up again, there was no mention of me coming along so I was prepared to stay home with my siblings and relax. Then one day before my aunt arrived in town, my mom extended the invitation encouraging me to go. I decided to do just that. Lord knows I could use some time outside of Montgomery!
It turned out to be a wonderful decision. One reason being that I haven’t seen my uncle and aunt in years and it felt really good to see them. They are older now but still sharp as ever. Especially my uncle. Being at their house brought back so many childhood memories! After chatting and catching up, we all had dinner at Cracker Barrel and man did we laugh!! Between my mom, my aunt from Cali, and my uncle, I laughed until my cheeks were sore! Just as we were leaving Cracker Barrel, my dad’s dad invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner which I was excited about! My parents went there for Thanksgiving two years ago but I wasn’t there because I went out of town that year to spend the holiday with my then girlfriend and her family and friends so I was glad when he called and extended the invitation to us. Thanksgiving day came and we joined my grandad for dinner later that day. I haven’t seen him or his wife in two years so I was definitely excited to be there! We all enjoyed ourselves! Now that Thanksgiving 2021 is in the books, I can truly say that I am looking forward to Christmas. In the past, I would tell myself that I’m going to watch two of my favorite Christmas movies: How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Home Alone 2 but due to work or school or both, I never got around to it, but now that I have time on my hands, I plan to watch both and more! Besides better opportunities that are on the verge, one reason I believe I’m placed in my current situation is because maybe I needed to learn to appreciate the little things. Maybe I needed to appreciate life more because life is short as we all are aware of and with everything going on (especially with us people of the diaspora) it is healthy to stop and smell the roses while you’re in pursuit of your life’s purpose. I find myself being much more thankful these days over the simple things!
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