Thanks and Giving

"You can go to hell without moving an inch, just focus on what you lack. You can taste heaven without leaving Earth, just rejoice in what you have." -James Clear

With Thanksgiving on November 28, the start of the holiday season will commence, which is an exciting time for many, a stressful time for some, and a depressing time for others. Lots of us have experienced all three of these emotions during the holidays at some point in our lives, sometimes all in the same year.

I have found that during stressful or depressing times, focusing on the positive things in my life, being grateful for what I have, and sincerely thanking those who have had any part in contributing to the "good stuff" can significantly lighten the burden of these heavy emotions. Most of us have heard the saying, "Someone else is praying for the life you complain about." This sentiment was driven home after the devastation of Hurricane Helene in September, which left many without a place to live, a job, school, food, or clean water.

But the silver lining of Hurricane Helene was witnessing all the giving that occurred in its wake. Much like after other major tragedies or natural disasters in our country, people went to work gathering supplies and money to send to those in need. Those in the affected towns and cities came together as a community to give their time, share their remaining resources, and offer their knowledge and skills to help each other clean up the mess, salvage what they could, and begin the daunting task of rebuilding.

In the spirit of "thanks" and "giving," please be sure to check out this month's feature on pages 20-21, which is a list of all of Family Life Magazines' community partners over the last 10+ years. We hope you will consider helping one or more of these great local nonprofits. And we'd be remiss if we didn't take this opportunity to express how grateful we are for our advertisers and our faithful readers — thanks so much for your support!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,