Giving Thanks

gprellwitz

gprellwitz

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
Messages
12,799
Location
Romeoville, IL
Display Name
Grant Prellwitz
Home Airfield
1C5
Another thread prompted me to star this one at the beginning of the Thanksgiving week here in the US. Even though this date is a US holiday, this is something we should consider year round.

I give thanks for my wonderful wife, and the patience she shows with me, with all my foibles. I also give thanks to the rest of our families who support us in all we do.
I give thanks for my health that allows me the opportunity to fly when so many others cannot achieve that. I pledge to take better care of this body.
I give thanks to my friends and coworkers who challenge me and support me. Together, we are more than our individual parts.
I give thanks to the instructors, the training and the infrastructure that allow me to fly. Despite all the "impediments" in the US, we really have it very good.
I give thanks for the financial where-with-all to be able to afford to fly to even a small portion of the places I'd like to visit. There are all too many out there who cannot even afford dinner and shelter, much less to pursue their dreams.

For what do you give thanks?
 
One may believe their Deity is the appropriate answer to that. Another may believe the thanks should be directed towards other people, both alive and dead.

I don't know Grant's preference, but he's asking the group the "What for" question, not to "To whom" question.

Nobody here molded themselves in a vacuum, so we all have someone to thank. At least in our society's norms where gratitude is valued by most as a form of acceptance, gratefulness is appreciated by most people.

As for my answer, the list of people I could thank for helping me accomplish things I could never have done without their sacrifices is almost never-ending since it extends back beyond my ancestors I knew in life to long-dead ones. And if I factor in my own personal religious beliefs, those thank-you's would naturally extend to my Deity.

I'm more interested in the problem of determining which of the people in my life are currently at a point in their circumstances of life where a thank-you would lift their spirits enough to help them along emotionally, or better yet, what I could do for them that would change their life forever for the better.

I know for sure that my first flight instructor's willingness to teach led to a better life for me. My life would be much "poorer" without flight. Without accurate instruction I would also likely be dead by now. Good primary flight training is critical for the rest of the days you have yet to fly.

The rest of the list is far too long to post here.

No job should be thankless. Thank someone this week that you normally wouldn't thank.
 
Many mornings I can't lift my head off of the pillow without giving thanks for so many things. The things I give thanks for closely mirror Grant's list...then there are the completely personal list of things I'll keep personal.

Either way, either list and no matter who you give thanks to, gratefulness over what you as a person reading this and we as a nation have been given (or have earned for the nitpickers :D ) should, as Grant states, be a year round exercise.

Truly we are blessed as a people and a nation.
 
I give thanks for healthy kids, grandkids, and healthy friends.


May good health extend to you and your family and friends this Thanksgiving also. :D
 
Grant:

A timely and well-found post.

I am blessed in more ways than I can relate, but I certainly cherish the friends I have gotten to know, including (in particular) those whom I have met through flying. What a treat it is to get to know these people.

Think about it: I went to a dinner with a room full of people, at a Mexican restaurant in (of all places) Oshkosh, Wisconsin - these people from all points of the compass, none from my home town - all good folks, the kind you burst with pride at knowing. People you trust, respect. That's pretty fortunate.
 
My favorite holiday, for this reason. Even when times seem tough, I have it pretty good.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a virtual homemade pumpkin pie!

4b94241c-7f54-7402.jpg
 
Geico266 said:
I get gravity.

I get fusion.

Racoon? :confused:
Click to expand...

Why not? The world would be a lesser place without them.

And there's been a raccoon hanging about lately who is my companion for thanksgiving dinner this year.
 
j1b3h0 said:
To whom do you give thanks?
Click to expand...

I give thanks to G-d. I also believe that G-d resides in each and every one of us. Therefore, if you do not believe in G-d, believe in yourself, give thanks to yourself for being lucky enough for being who you are.

John
 
I give thanks for my family, and for all of the great friends I've made through aviation - most of them through this board.
 
David Steindl-Rast said : " gratitude is the heart of prayer "

I am thankful for this very life.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for all the great people I consider to be my friends and family. And of course, all of you at PoA!
 
fgcason said:
Why not? The world would be a lesser place without them.

And there's been a raccoon hanging about lately who is my companion for thanksgiving dinner this year.
Click to expand...

You had a coon over for dinner? :eek:


;)
 
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In spite of all the things we find to complain about, we still have it better than most anywhere else in the world. That's why so many millions want to come here (or to my country, Canada). They see opportunity where we see difficulty. They want full tummies while we try to avoid eating so much. They want a car, any old car, while we have several nice ones and maybe an airplane and perhaps a boat and motorbike and RV and want even more.

We have little reason to complain, but we should also be aware that we could be spoiling it all with debt and social decay.

Dan
 
I'm thankful to my friends and family for their friendship. On a more cosmic level, I am thankful for being here with good health, but my thankfulness is more a feeling of appreciation than a pat on the back to some other entity.
 
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