Gratitude Opinion

So here's a column I started writing about thanksgiving time about being grateful for what we have. It was published in the December issue of the Gazette

Too many newspaper columns nitpick the negative. I’ll admit, I’ve written my fair share of rants and criticisms since I began writing for The Gazette over three years ago.
In fact, it has been some time that I’ve read a purely positive column: no rebukes, no cautions, no reprimands.
I intend to change that. You’ve read enough about the problems of our country. As we head into this holiday season, let’s focus on what is good in this world.
Let’s be grateful that we are led by an elected President, not a dictator.
Let’s be grateful that we live in a country piloted by a government that tries, despite some failures, to make our dreams achievable.
Let’s be grateful that we can legally petition that same government to make those dreams even more realistic.
Let’s be grateful for a school where crime is scarce.
Let’s be grateful for a community where roads are paved, houses are sturdy and food is plentiful.
Let’s be grateful for cell phones that let us communicate our successes, our sorrows and our souls with our parents or best friends.
Let’s be grateful for warm beds, cool nights and twinkling stars.
Let’s be grateful to our parents or caretakers for raising us to become respectable adults, despite our tireless objections.
Let’s be grateful for healthy bodies and intelligent minds.
Let’s be grateful for teachers who made reading this column possible; who taught us to question what we’re told, to expand our minds, to broaden our horizons.
Let’s be grateful for hot chocolate on a winter day and ice-cold lemonade on a summer day.
Let’s be grateful for the extracurricular opportunities we are afforded: baseball, choir, track, band, water polo, student government, volleyball, IB, lacrosse, GBiT, media, golf, swimming, softball, academic decathlon, speech and debate, basketball, football, yearbook, cross-country, and drama.
Let’s be grateful for smiles, for sparkling eyes, for laughter.
Let’s be grateful for hardships we overcome that prove our strength; let us also be grateful for hardships we don’t overcome that keep us humble.
Let’s be grateful for umbrellas when we want to avoid the rain and for rain boots when we don’t.
Let’s be grateful for hard times that allow us to appreciate good times.
True, the Healthcare crisis is heated as ever, the economy hasn’t recovered yet, war still rages across the world – there’s so much to be concerned about in this world. But we shouldn’t let worry overwhelm us: conflicts will resolve, arguments will settle, hate will give way to understanding.
We have so much to be thankful for – let’s not let pessimism consume optimism.