INCLUSION & RESPECT | NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Ode to Those Thankful For You, This Thanksgiving

A great day to thank:

Your thumbs

Your toes

Everything about you that’s still in good working order

The part of your family you agree with

The part of your family you disagree with

The people you love

The people you avoid

People who are irked at you right now

People who owe you

People you owe

Everyone you’ve met, good and bad

Strangers, passersby, audiences you’ve sat with, people you’ve asked directions from

People you’ve looked up to, and down on

All pets, individually, past and present, and all house plants

The big tree on your block when you were a kid

Nelson Mandela, da Vinci, Gandhi, M.L. King

That crack in the sidewalk

That sunset that year

That mountain view

Those shoes on your feet

The earth beneath your shoes

Inside, outside, upside down, right side up

What you believe in

What others believe in

That memory

That other memory

Deep conversations

Being excited, bored, scared, angry, or neutral

Love, hate, art, things that smell good and things that don’t

Things you've succeeded at, failed at, dreamed about, liked, didn’t like, loved, rooted for despised, or secretly admired

Whoever or Whatever you care to worship/revere/blame for it all—

They’ve all contributed to your life,

So they’re all in the credits that roll at the end.

And, by the way:

Who will be thankful for you?

For your understanding, tolerance, magnanimity, equanimity, inclusion

For your good humor

For your willingness to discuss rather than dismay

Reason rather than rant

Hear rather than howl

Love rather than loathe.

You’ve been in so many stories

You’ve touched so many lives

How thankful are they that you’re in their end credits?

Consider it.

And Happy Thanksgiving.

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AUTHOR

Norm Shannon

Norm loves writing and helping people through the wisdom of Scientology. He recently moved to Florida where he was delighted to learn they have air conditioning.

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