Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

*CAUTION: Lots of words and no pictures.*

I'm spending this Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's in Idaho, and we're doing things a little differently this year. Instead of traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we did Bring-What-You're-Thankful-For dinner, so everyone  picked a food we're thankful for, and that was all we had at dinner. No one picked turkey, so we didn't have turkey. (Stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie were all still present, however, so don't you worry.) I picked strawberry lemonade. So yummy. And it just brings back happy memories of summer. So our dinner consisted of quite the variety of foods, ranging from chips and salsa to ham and squash. It was delicious. Fabulous Thanksgiving idea, and I definitely want to do it again sometime.

On that note, this isn't going to be a traditional Thanksgiving blog post either. I think all the Facebook posts have temporarily tainted gratitude for me a little, just because it's hard to remember after the 15th status update of "I'm grateful for my family and friends! :)" that people are actually being genuine. So although it may not be what we typically define as gratitude, here are some of my thoughts this Thanksgiving.

This is actually one of my work-in-progress blogs that I've been doing for awhile. It's one of those that I have to be in the mood to write, so let me give you a bit of the background. This all started at a church thing a few months ago when the the following questions were posed:

        Do you like yourself? If not, what don't you like about yourself? And if you do, then 

        who or what taught you to like yourself?

A couple days later, one of my friends posted it on Facebook for the general internet public to consider. It was a question I took to heart, so I responded, but let's be real- no one wants to read anything horrendously long on Facebook, so I wrote down as much as I could justify (and then a little more) and let it be. I still wanted to elaborate though, so I figured I'd let it make itself at home on the blog. Here's my extended response. 

I genuinely do like myself. But there are specific things about me that I don't like. The biggest thing is probably that I sometimes just don't take into account the fact that the things I say and do (or the things I DON'T say and do) affect other people. When I fail to take that into consideration, I hurt people's feelings. And sometimes it cuts pretty deep. I don't like that I do that. Just when I think I'm getting better about it, I do it again. It's a nasty rut that I tend to fall back into. I think any of the things I don't like about myself are just those ruts. I try and do better, and a lot of the time, I do, but then eventually it happens again. That's frustrating.


Overall though, I really do like myself. Actually, I think it'd be more accurate to say that I love myself. I'm proud of who I am and what I've done. I know I'm dramatic and jump to conclusions, but I like to think I've got a good head on my shoulders. I can differentiate between what I want and what's best for me when I need to. In the long run, I keep things in perspective pretty well. I have an overall good outlook on the world. And I love that I can find happiness in really simple things. I have lots of little quirks that I've grown rather fond of over the years. I've gotten through some hard times, and I'm confident I'll get through the hard times that are to come. I've allowed myself to be surrounded by really fantastic people, and I'm realizing more and more how good they really are. Beyond that, I've learned to ask them for help when I need it. That's important. 


Where did I learn to like myself? Lots of places. Mostly church and family. There's a kind of peace I feel from my religious beliefs that has taught me to be happy with myself despite my flaws. I truly believe that every person, myself included, has some divinity about them that can't be diminished, even by our mistakes. My family has always given me that "You can do anything!" kind of support, and for that I'm so grateful. My mom especially has always given me a very empowered sense of being. Also, it might be cliché, but I almost died when I was a year old, so I just feel like my life has a purpose. 

Pulling it back, I guess what I'm thankful for is who I am, and all the people that helped get me here. And I'm thankful for the reminders to stop and reflect on that every now and then. So I want to remind you- don't forget to think about you. I think that you are important, and that you are beautiful. But what do you think about you?

Do you like yourself?