Being Thankful

Have you ever stopped to think about the good things in your life?  Sometimes we get so caught up in what's going wrong, that we overlook the things that are going right.  There is so much to be thankful for.  I heard a quote from somewhere that said..*what if we woke up tomorrow only having the things we were thankful for today?*  Some of us would be in a world of hurt and NOT in a good way!
I am as guilty as everyone else.  I don't consider myself a negative person at all.  I do know that I can get stuck on the negative, completely missing the other side of things.
What is there to be thankful for in such a screwed up world?  There is war, killing, poverty, prejudice, injustice, abuses...and more.  I am not thankful for those things.  I have said before that I desire to be part of the solution.  What happens when those things come to roost in our own lives?  How do we respond?
I am not about to be thankful for the disabled man who took one look at my partner, who asked him if he needed help and had the gall to say to her, that he didn't want help from a homosexual.  He continued and  basically told her to go to hell.  Mickey, the woman of patience and wisdom that she is, replied to him.. "first, what ever possessed you to think I am a lesbian? My looks? I feel sorry for you that you refuse a helping hand from someone who is offering it, based on how they look.  I hope you have a more pleasant day."  And, she walked away.  Can't say I would have been as polite.  Mickey teaches me so much through word and action and for that I am very thankful.  She gets the rude remarks and the dirty looks, way too often in my opinion.  She has learned to handle them, most of the time, with a grace that makes me love her even more.
I am thankful for my partner in life.  She is an amazing woman, strong, loving, gentle, caring, passionate, dominant, giving, generous, very much *out* as a lesbian and Top.  She loves to spank me, as well as others.  How can some one like me, not be thankful for that?
Sometimes we get caught up in needs that are not really needs.  I *need* $20 so I can go to the movies with my friends.  Okay, I will swap you that $20 for your next 20 hours of water to drink.  Kind of a basic need.  Water, air, shelter...
What about when it seems like everything in our life is going wrong?  Don't have a job, didn't get the pay raise, or to really bring it straight to the heart - when we have come to the place where we feel worthless?  I have been there.  Wondering why I was even on this planet.  The LAST thing I wanted was for any one to suggest to me to start thinking about what was *good* in my life.  Dammit, in that place, I can't think of anything *good*!  Not in that frame of mind.  It takes hard work to bring yourself back from that dark mood place.  I have seen too that it seems like a lot of others are ready to jump on the band wagon of negativity and depression.  I am thankful for the people in my life that stand up to me, tell me the truth and present another opinion.  Joining me in my pity party isn't going to help either one of us.
Some people will see the title of this entry and not even read it.  There is something about thankfulness that turns people away.  It is strange that when we need it most, we want little to do with it.  Changing our thinking in those dark moments is not easy.  I fight it.  Sometimes it is like I would rather wade around in that yuck than listen to and practice a way out of it.  There is no person reading this that can honestly say there is nothing to be thankful for.  What are you thankful for?