A day of thanks

“I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom.”  Anonymous

It seems to me that as a society we have become so busy that we don’t take enough time to reflect on the things in our lives that give us joy. Our 9 to 5 jobs have become 24/7. No longer do we leave work and forget about a grueling day. Now we have home offices to perpetuate it.

Rarely is anything spontaneous anymore. We schedule play dates, music lessons, soccer practice and other events for our children. We schedule date night with our romantic partners.  Even our pets have scheduled walks and playtime at doggy daycare.

Our weekdays are littered with meetings, phone calls, e-mails and deadlines. Our weekends are filled to the brim with sports, exercise, shopping, gardening and completing tasks around the house. Heck, even the weather these days is extreme and overwhelming.

So as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I ask you to take a breath and ponder for a moment what you are thankful for.

Bob Hope was thankful for the memories, Maurice Chevalier for little girls. Sam and Dave thanked you for lovin’ them like you did. Bette White thanked Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan for being her friends and the late John Denver was just thankful to be a country boy.

Here’s my list.

I’m thankful for customers, thankful for friends and I hope that my list of both types never ends. For buyers who trust and will listen to me and sellers who watch lots of HGTV. For title attorneys and those who will lend the funds that my clients are anxious to spend. For carpenters, plumbers and others in trades, landscapers and stagers and those Merry Maids.

I’m thankful for soldiers at home and abroad; for those brave men and women we all should applaud. For Army and Navy, for Air Force, Marines who suit up in uniform still in their teens. For the JAG Corps and generals and powers that be who no longer ask if they’re LGBT.

I’ve got both my eyes and my ears, all my toes, two arms and two legs and a cute, button nose. I can hear, I can see, I can taste, I can smell…even touching is something I do rather well.  I’m thankful I’m aging, don’t mind that I’m wrinkling; I’ve most of my teeth and my eyes are still twinkling.

I’m thankful for sump pumps and wet vacs were dandy as neighbors and I weathered Hurricane Sandy.  When my boiler turns on with a regular beat, I’m thankful this winter that I will have heat; that Sprint finally fine-tuned my cellular tower, that during the last storm I never lost power.

I’m thankful our country’s election is through, the debates are all over and TV spots too.  Maybe now we can rally and compromise if we don’t all take a fall off the financial cliff.

I’m thankful for white wine and for Diet Coke and my doctor is pleased I no longer smoke.  I’m thankful for ice cream, for pizza with cheese and for gaining those few extra pounds with such ease, for although the economy may seem unstable, I still earn enough to put food on the table.

I’m thankful for love and I’m thankful for laughter, if just for a short time or forever after.  For my canine companions, my small, furry family: Olivia, Fulbright and the noisiest, Stanley, who always do things that will prompt me to smile as I revel in kisses and snuggle a while.

So follow my lead and take time to reflect on the things that you love or the ones you respect. Forget all your problems, your sorrows, your strife and be thankful for all of the pleasures in life.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Valerie M. Blake can be reached at 202-246-8602 or Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com. Prudential PenFed Realty is an independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates, Inc.  Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.  Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity.