Giving Thanks

In my copyediting work, I've been reading a lot of short pieces lately on how to succeed in life, and a lot of them mention having an attitude of thanks and gratitude and appreciation for the good things in life. It can be really easy to get bogged down in the negative -- the amount of work still undone, housework piling up, current events, or historical events that are traditionally celebrated despite our revised understandings of the context. Thanksgiving can be a problematic holiday for that last reason, and I appreciate people like Rob Schmidt over at Newspaper Rock who point out why.

On the other hand, setting aside a day to be thankful, and honoring the day for what it has become, rather than for its revisionist history, is a good thing. I have so much in life to be thankful for that it's nice for a reminder to focus on those things, rather than the daily grind.