Thanksgiving is a time when I think about all the things I am grateful for in my life. I realize I am very lucky because I have a whole lot to be thankful for.
Most recently, my debut novel, THE WITCH OF ZAL, came out this month! I have finally achieved the dream of being a real author with a real book. Many people don’t ever get to achieve their dreams, and I am so grateful to all the people who shared this long journey with me and supported me in so many ways.
I am also thankful for my family. My parents are still alive and healthy and very involved in their grandchildren’s lives. I have a friend who lost both her parents this year (only 12 days apart), and that has made me appreciate having them even more. I’m even thankful for my “little” brother—we are very different, but I know he’ll have my back if I ever need him. A far cry from the bratty kid I fought with all the time!
Of course my husband and daughter are high on my “thankful for” list. My wonderful husband supports me in so many ways, and we’re really two peas in a pod. And my daughter, my “Kinder-girl” as she is known on Facebook, keeps me hopping and makes me laugh and amazes me each day as she grows into her own person.
Friends are also precious, and I have too many to name here that have been there for me in times of need. Whether just listening to me vent, or going out of their way to help me out, my friends have helped me through a lot.
I have so much else to be thankful for. I have a warm house and enough food and clothes. We have enough money to be secure and we live in a relatively safe environment. Looking at the frightening things happening today, the masses of people who have nothing, who have left everything they knew, makes me hold very dear the things I do have—things so easy to take for granted.
So take a moment today to reflect on what you have to be thankful for. Life can get hectic and we forget what we have in the rush to try and get further ahead, further up the ladder, further than the people next door. For just one day, stop the rat race and cherish what you have—what you have accomplished. Life is short, so take a moment to enjoy it.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Peace On Earth
Christmas is my favorite season. It has nothing to do with gifts (either giving or getting) and everything to do with the peace and goodwill I feel at this time of year. One of my favorite things to do is bask in the light of the Christmas tree and listen to music or read a book and just be.
Maybe it’s just nostalgia that makes this season seem a time of more peace and joy and goodwill than other times of year. I don’t know—and I truly don’t care to delve too deeply. Sometimes a mystery is best left unsolved.
The world today is in great need of peace and goodwill. During this past year, I have shed too many tears for murdered strangers and the future we are leaving my daughter. I have lived too much with fear—fear for my country’s future and my daughter’s safety. I have screamed too loudly at the endless stupidity, greed, and hate that are shoving humanity to the brink of collapse.
I need this Christmas. I need to remember that there are many good people in this world. That there is a future worth fighting for. That the fight is not futile. That this mess of a world is not the world I am destined to leave my daughter.
I need this Christmas spirit to remind me that every act of kindness pushes back the darkness. That it is never too late to be the candle in the window. That one person can make a difference.
I am that one person.
You are that one person.
We can change the world.
We must change the world.
Peace on Earth…
Let’s do this.
But first I need this Christmas to fortify my soul.