Andy Young: Thankful for what I don’t have

By Andy Young

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving, the national holiday when Americans gather together to formally express gratitude for all the blessings in their lives. In reality though, every day ought to be Thanksgiving for just about everyone living in the United States. Anyone wishing to dispute that should try residing for a spell in just about any other nation not located in northern North America.

Most Americans can, with a mere turn of the wrist, obtain water that’s safe to drink. The vast majority (though sadly, not all) of us have a roof over our heads and access to food, electricity, and reasonably clean air.

People with the correct attitude realize they have far more blessings than they can count. Anyone possessing good health for themselves and their family, a decent job, and good friends should realize they’ve hit the gratitude trifecta. It’s probably impossible for anyone with those three advantages to list every single thing that they’re thankful for, let alone do so in a 600-word essay, as I’m vainly attempting to do here.

I’m a big believer in appreciating everything I have. But sometimes I find it helpful to acknowledge some things I’m thankful I don’t possess.

For example, I don’t have a single immediate or extended family member in my life who is greedy, vengeful, selfish, mean-spirited, narcissistic, sneaky, and/or dishonest.

I’m grateful I don’t have collection agencies pursuing me over bills I can’t or won’t pay. I’m also pleased with not having a tyrannical boss, petty co-workers, or unfriendly neighbors to deal with. I’m thankful I’m not nursing any grudges, and that no one I know of is holding one against me.

I’m thankful I’ve never borrowed money from a loan shark, agreed to become a spy for a foreign power, or consorted with international drug smugglers. Had I engaged in any or all of those activities it’s likely there'd be a price on my head, not to mention a bevy of professional assassins vying to collect it.

I’m pleased I don’t live downwind from a paper mill, a slaughterhouse, or a sewage treatment plant.

I’m darned lucky to not need help getting out of bed every morning. I also don’t require any assistance in getting myself from Point A to Point B, whether that means traversing a room, a sidewalk, or a highway without aid. I’m acutely aware there are plenty of folks my age (and younger) who no longer have (or in some cases never had) those capabilities.

Another often-overlooked blessing: here in Maine there’s no reason to worry about being bitten by fire ants or poisonous snakes. In addition, I’m reasonably certain there aren’t any rabid skunks residing underneath my back porch. I’m also thankful I can remove my shoes at day’s end and leave them on the floor without having to worry about scorpions taking up residence in them overnight.

I’m thankful I don’t have hives, ulcers, acne, head lice, tennis elbow, insomnia, halitosis, shingles, nosebleeds, constipation, dropsy, bunions, jock itch, or any number of other maladies that one can acquire via insect bites, blood-borne pathogens, airborne transmission, ill-advised sexual activity, or just plain bad luck.

And like most Americans, I’m thankful to not have to endure another presidential campaign, since the next one won’t get underway in earnest for at least another couple of months.

I don’t know that there’s any verifiable scientific findings suggesting that maintaining a perpetual attitude of gratitude can extend the number of years in an individual’s life. However, based on the anecdotal evidence I’ve gathered so far, I’m convinced that doing so unquestionably adds life to one’s years. <