Thanksgiving Celebrations

I woke this morning to a rather pleasant surprise. This blog almost has a THOUSAND followers. That’s huge. Almost a thousand people are reading my work. I am honored and incredibly thankful.

Today is also the national Canadian day of thanks. Tonight, people will be sitting down at their long dining table with their extended family, using the coveted silverware.

Not me.

Thanksgiving has never been a big event for me. Then again, no holiday has ever been a big event in my house. Everything just gets swept under the rug.

One reason: My family is broken.

So today, there will be no turkey carving ceremonies. No grandiose meals, filled with laughter. No drunken uncle bumbling around telling corny jokes. And, worst of all, no thanks.

I’ve learned to improvise. I don’t need a special day for thanks. You don’t need one either. For some reason, we see Thanksgiving as the only day to be thankful. What about the other 364 days?

For me, I’m thankful every single day. I’m thankful for my life, my body, and the world. I’m thankful for my friends and (little) family. I’m thankful to be in Canada where the biggest problems are tax-season and figuring out what to wear in the morning.

Most people can’t say the same. Most people don’t have what we have.

I am fortunate enough to be typing this on a computer in the quiet. I am fortunate enough to have the Internet to post this and read all your wonderful comments. You are fortunate enough to be reading this, on your computer, using your Internet.

There is so much to be thankful for everyday, that one day doesn’t seem to do justice.

The ‘Be Grateful’ List

Everyday, starting today, write down things that you are grateful for. Contemplate and dig. Search for everything. There are so many things that we take for granted.

If you start to struggle, dig deeper. It’s there. Something. There is always something. Struggling is good. When you find something to be grateful for, you will appreciate it much more.

On my particularly crappy days, writing this list helps. I feel rejuvenated. No matter how bad things may be, there is always something I can be grateful for. That’s the positive side of it all.

For me, I am grateful every morning. I wake up and my phone dings because of WordPress. I have new likes and comments and follows to reply to which makes my heart happy.

Write that list. Count your blessings.

I don’t need a turkey-carving ceremony or grandiose meals. I have everything that I love. I love everything that I have. There is no more for negativity.

I don’t need a drunken uncle. I have you. And I am grateful.

Be bold, be free, and love on.

The Summer Bucket List

I have this overwhelming feeling erupting from my body. I finished my last exam yesterday and now I am done school for another four months! My mind and body are content with everything in this moment.

Finally, I have some free time. I can do whatever I feel like. I feel like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, sliding across the floor in my underwear, followed by a dancing montage.

For all my fellow prisoners of school, I am sure you are sharing this boat with me. Finally, you say, ‘my brain can sleep’ and ‘I have so much free time, I don’t know what to do with myself.’

I was out with my really close friends this past Sunday and we decided unanimously to start a bucket list, more clearly defined, a summer bucket list. A list of goals to achieve by the end of summer. The idea of writing a life-long list sounds daunting, so consider working with this time frame.

It should be filled with goals from different spectrums ranging from adrenaline rushing to just plain scary but, nonetheless, they should be all achievable by the end of summer.

Constructing the List 

Making a bucket list that you must achieve before the end of summer can be daunting. Make short-term goals that are relatively easy to complete. These are mine:

Skydive, ‘Go’ Game, trip to New York, make a short movie, go to Skyzone, and maybe a trip to Las Vegas

Skydiving is pretty scary but it is not the most daunting on the list. The real test will be the ‘Go’ Game. The ‘Go’ Game is when your friends point out a random girl and you HAVE to approach her.

If you have been reading my blog so far, you would know that approaching women absolutely terrifies me. But, in this case, it forces you to do it. In front of my friends, my manhood and pride are on the line. At this point, not approaching will ostracize me.

“If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves” – Thomas Edison

The list has to be short and concise. Put something in there that pushes your limits, something that terrifies you, and something that expands your horizons. Achieving these goals by the end of summer will change you.

“Time is on my side, yes it is” – The Rolling Stones

The next thing is jumping over the hurdles of excuses you put in front of yourself. Time is the biggest one. ‘There isn’t enough time in the day to do everything.’ ‘I work too much.’ ‘I just want to relax sometimes.’

These excuses pile up endlessly, until nothing is achieved. You start school the same person you left. No surprises, no cool scars, same you.

I am far from a mathematician but let me drop some numbers on you. There are 168 hours in a week and accounting for a full time job (44) you will have 124. You should be sleeping at least 8 hours a night (56), which leaves you with 68 hours to do whatever the hell you want to do. That’s almost 10 hours of free time a day.

That’s almost ten hours to read, write, draw, and sing. More importantly, that’s almost ten hours to formulate and achieve your bucket list.

Don’t think of it as using your precious ‘relaxing time,’ but more as expanding you. The time excuse has brought you down for far to long –insert time pun here-

I wish I were witty enough to come up with a time pun. But alas, I shall leave the puns to your imagination (put some in the comments below).

Don’t procrastinate! Time has a way of sneaking by you. Days will pass by and before you know it you are back at school or work or whatever you do, the same person.

When these are completed, I will be a different man before school starts, we’ll all be. If I experience my entire list, I will think, act, and maybe even look different.

Maybe I will get a life-altering scar in New York by some street thug.

Regardless, I accept all that life has to offer to me. I need to improve in all aspects of life, expand my horizons and achieve happiness. And it all starts this summer, with that list.