Giving thanks on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving isn’t a thing here in Singapore or in my family.

But giving thanks – hell yeah! I like to think saying thank you often is something that kept my relationship with my wife going, and also with my parents.

So no better time to say I’m thankful for:

• I’m thankful for my wife and her steadfastness despite all the storms we went through the past few years. We had better times, yet she’s still here. For that, I’m grateful.
• I’m thankful for my son who’s doing so well growing up, learning in school, and being the charmer that he is. Our lives are infinitely more colourful and beautiful now with his presence, and there’s nothing I’d trade for that.
• I’m thankful for my parents, and how they lived healthy, engaged and independent lives despite in retired and in 70s. I’ve not had to worry much about their health, and I’m thankful for that.
• I’m thankful for overall good health. Things went sideways when the pandemic started, but I feel semblances of my old health regaining ground. Much more room still, but at least I don’t feel burdened by unexplained chronic ailments.
• I’m thankful for all the friendships I made here on Lifelog, and on Twitter. If you asked me 10 years ago whether I foresee meeting most of my new friends on the internet, I’d laugh in your face. But here we are. I found my tribe, my community, here, in this abstract, intangible space. Most of whom I’ve never even met in real life. It truly is amazing.
• I’m thankful for hardship and opportunities for growth through challenge. I’ve seen better times financially, but I take this as a season I have to live with and through. That abundance will return once I worked through whatever my higher self is called to work through right now. And trust me, there’s a lot of sh*t I’m dealing with that’s caught me aware, out of nowhere. It’s not even about externalities like bad market conditions.
• I’m thankful for progress. I look back at my own notebooks and journals and saw that 10 years ago I wanted so many of the things I have right now. Things like being able to code, making money from the internet, creating tech for good, digital nomading in places like Kyoto, Ubud. I keep looking ahead at what’s next, but seeing what’s behind makes me thankful for the journey.
• I’m thankful for Life and everything that was thrown at me. It had not always been easy, but it was always what I needed, what I deserved.

I am thankful. Thank you.