Giving Thanks, Day One.

So, I didn't exactly manage to get in my 31 horror movies and other Halloween related things for the month of October. I ended up being supremely busy and while I did watch a lot of horror movies, some good (Paranormal Activity and it's sequel), some bad (Stupid Teenagers Must Die), some classic (Godzilla v. Mothra), I didn't manage a full 31, and I didn't manage to write a single blog on them. While I could go back and reflect, I'm going to chalk it up as a good attempt and move on to the idea for November: Things I am grateful for.

Now, there are a lot of things that I'm grateful for that are rather obvious ones. I'm grateful I have food and shelter, clean air and water, clothing, my family and friends, my health, so I'm probably not going to write about those things. Yes, sometimes I take these things for grated, but I want to look for grace in other places, not ones that might be staring me in the face, even if I am taking them for granted. I still greatly appreciate these things, but I want to make this a little bit challenging for myself.

In honor of our recent election, I am grateful for choices. I'm grateful that I live in a country where my opinion matters for something. Now, you could get all pessimistic and say that I am one small speck of dust and one small vote so I don't count for much, but I firmly believe that every vote, every voice counts. After all, you become one of a group that votes in the same way you do, on each person and each proposition or ballot measure. And you become part of an age demographic. Some generations clearly know how to use the demographic. Retired folk vote en masse and so their issues are the ones that end up on the ballot. Which is why I always love it when I see young people choosing to vote, maybe one day, before we are retired, politicians will have to cater to us, and ballot measures will be things we care more about.

But election aside, I am grateful that I have the ability to choose my mood. Yes, there are some things that can interfere and chemical reactions in the brain certainly affect you in a negative way even when you want to be happy. But you can also choose to be happy on a daily basis. You can choose to not dwell on negative things. Bad things are going to happen to everyone and everyone has a choice in how they deal with them.

I was talking to someone the other day, about this. He was telling me how noble it was to make a choice to go on with life and not obsess about something bad that happens. I don't think it's particularly noble, but that's me. I don't think that choosing to live my life is a noble choice, it's a choice we all make. I think choosing to be happy despite the bad things, and choosing to not seal myself up in a tower are smart choices, but they aren't noble. I don't think it's noble unless I became sort of role model, and put that sort of thing in the public domain and let others draw strength from it. That might be noble, but I don't think I want to make that particular choice.

But I am grateful that I can make the choice to be happy today, and that choice will be honored by myself. People might say mean things today, or be grouchy and rude, but I don't have to let it affect me.