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Thankfulness Is a Test in Retrospective Thinking and Remembering the Good Rather Than the Bad
Or: this is my attempt to collect the reasons I’m grateful this year.
November 2021 has not been the best month for me, but I am trying to do what I can to “count my blessings” (as the saying goes) because 2020 was enough of a downer year that I don’t want to leave 2021 on those same sad notes.
I don’t keep a gratitude journal (because I’m lazy), but in honor of the thought behind Thanksgiving I decided to list some of the things that make my heart a little gladder to think on them.
Here we go.
The year began with an attempted coup in the United States, but our democracy is still standing.
January 6th, 2021, was a scary day for a lot of people. We watched on live television while an insurrection occurred over flagrant lies perpetuated by a president who refused to admit he had lost an election. I worried that worse would follow — terrorist attacks, outright vigilantism, even assassination attempts — but the dust settled for enough of a breather that I want to hope that this country can survive even despite its worst elements.