Truly Thankful

Thanksgiving, as well as many other holidays, is a time to reflect on your life, and appreciate all that you have.  This is something that is usually very hard for us to do.  Many have grown up in houses with loving parents  siblings and pets.  A lot of you have wonderful significant others.  We have good jobs.  We have never been in need anything like food, shelter or clothing.  These are all things that we have taken for granted while growing up.  In the aftermath of Sandy it is much easier to be appreciative and thankful for everything that we have.

When Sandy hit, my house lost power for 7 days.  I am so thankful that we only lost power.  I couldn't believe people were on Facebook complaining that they did not have electricity, internet, or cable when there were, and still are, so many people that have lost their houses and family members.  Hurricane Sandy put a lot of things in perspective for me.  Not going to lie, it was difficult living in a house with no lights or heat.  I was constantly worrying about my dog becoming too cold, or someone breaking into my house because it was so dark.  All of our food spoiled, and we couldn't even go out and buy more because there was no where to store it.  I wasn't able to do laundry.  I couldn't figure out outfits because it was too dark to see in my closet.  I had to throw on layers when I went to sleep in order to stop shivering.  Thankfully I had friends who did not lose power, and invited me over to recharge (mentally and electronically), eat, stay warm.  I am very happy to have you ladies in my life.

But I only had to live this way for 7 days.  There are so many people in America who live worse than this every single day of the year.  I find it very interesting how after a big natural disaster, people come together and help one another.  So many donated food, clothing, blankets and money to those who have lost things during Sandy, but once the hype calms down, people aren't as generous.  

One of my new years resolutions for 2013 will be to volunteer at least one day a month.  A program called "New York Cares" (http://www.newyorkcares.org/volunteer/volunteer_opportunities/) has a lot of different options to help those in need.  I am eager to get started, and would love friends to participate with me.  Please let me know if you are interested!

By the way, in case you were wondering, here is what I am thankful for this year: mom.  dad.  jeremy.  pudge.  having a house.  heat.  a laundry machine.  a refrigerator and freezer.  awesome friends who are always there for me.  electricity.  my iphone.  my computer.  memories.  a job I enjoy.  my TV & DVR.  freedom.  always having food in my kitchen.  all my readers.  my extended family.  books.  my parents jobs.  a full closet.  traveling.  happiness.