Be Thankful
Be Thankful
2022 hasn't been the best year, but there's so much to be thankful for.
Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the United States, and I have four things to remind you about:
If you’re sweating about Thanksgiving, check out our Thanksgiving guide.
Brine your turkey Wednesday night.
Take time this year to be thankful.
It seems like everyone is in a foul mood right now. Many have noticed that the Christmas decorations went up extra early this year—presumably, people are desperate for cheer. The astrology people keep telling me that Mercury is in retrograde, or maybe even in the microwave. I don’t do astrology, but I’m guessing that means bad vibes or something.
In fact, many of you are probably rolling your eyes at my suggestion to be thankful. What’s there to be thankful for? The economy is slowly going down the crapper. Maybe you’ve been laid off. Maybe you live in Ukraine. We’re dealing with the worst nuclear threat since the end of the Cold War. Europe might freeze over. It seems like the only “leaders” we can choose from are either senile or insane from birth (maybe both!). Elon bought Twitter and it’s going to go kaput any day now. Perhaps another prophecy from The Onion came true, and Steve Jobs was indeed the last American who knew what he was doing.
This year, I read Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans (more eyerolls), where he interviewed many famous and successful people to discover what makes them tick. One of the commonalities that kept popping up was fostering and expressing gratitude. Yeah, maybe that’s easy when you’re rich and famous, but what if the inverse is true? Maybe if we can be more positive and more thankful for what we have, we’ll be more successful too? Or at least happier with our lot in life.
No, 2022 has not been a great year. We’ve certainly had better. But things could have been so much worse:
Despite all the threats and posturing, no one has actually gone nuclear. Cooler heads have prevailed, even when an AP reporter tried to start World War III.
Despite all the issues with food and fuel, there’s still plenty on the shelves, even if there are still some conspicuously empty spots.
Yes, gas shot up to record highs earlier in the year, but they’ve fallen back to more reasonable levels. Today, gas in my area is $3.09. We’re not quite back down to Trump prices, but it’s within reason.
Inflation is kicking our butts, but some retailers like Aldi and Walmart are temporarily eating the costs to bring prices down.
If you look around, you probably have a lot to be thankful for. One of my wife’s kin was just badly burned and required surgery (no, my wife isn’t related to Jay Leno). If you haven’t been in a burn ward lately, you have a lot to be thankful for.
As for me, I’m counting my blessings. I have a wonderful little family, including a little girl that adores me. I’m starting a new day job next week. In fact, I’ve been technically unemployed for over a week and meant to get more done around the farm, but the little girl keeps bringing me books and I can’t tell her no.
I’m also thankful for all the folks who have supported me, both with my little venture here on Substack and my Apple-focused stuff in the TidBITS world. You’ve helped me support my family through a difficult year.
I hope you can find some blessings to count, too. And I hope you can spare the resources to show a little charity this holiday season. Grab an angel off a tree and go Christmas shopping for a needy child. Or if you bought too much rice preparing for Armageddon, maybe give some of it to a food bank—they need all they can get.
Let’s all do what we can to fight back against the darkness. That’s the only way 2023 will be better.