Showing Random Thankfulness

(NOTE: The following is my first column in the weekly Waldron News that I work for. Enjoy!)

Despite my disdain for 80s hair bands (would much rather listen to 70s rock like Chicago and Pink Floyd), I’m going to quote Cinderella to kick off this column.

“Don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

With introductions out of the way, I quote that crappy hair band because their cliche’ lyrics made perfect sense on Wednesday, when the power went out.

This electricity that I take for granted each day suddenly dissappeared, leaving me helpless at work.
Without power, there was no computer. The phone at my desk was gone, as was the lighting, and my iced tea maker couldn’t make a new batch of tea.

“Please let the power come back on God!” I pleaded with God during the handful of hours it was out. It finally did, and it wasn’t until one day later that I thought much of it (when it went out for a few minutes in the morning.

It’s easy to take it for granted, as I take most things in life that way. Food on the table? I take it for granted. A roof over my head? Granted. Family and friends? Granted as well.

It’s not that I’m not thankful for these things. It just seems like I only thank God for them once every blue moon, instead of every day (and that’s when I remember to pray, which I don’t do every day like I should. That’s a character flaw to disect in a different column).

And with Thanksgiving approaching, perhaps that’s why thankfulness is on my mind.
But why stop with thanking God for the obvious? On Lino Rulli’s The Catholic Guy, a very witty afternoon radio show (3-6 p.m. on Sirius 159, XM 117) that is enjoyable no matter what denomination or faith you belong to, there’s a segment called “Random Thankfulness,” with the goal being to find the little things in life that we can be thankful for.

Things like seat warmers, the microwave, the YMCA opening early, or all the traffic lights being green just as you approach them while being late for work. Sure, we can be thankful for the big things like family and food, but it’s fun to thank God for the little things in our lives.

So this Thanksgiving, when you are giving thanks, find those small things in your life that are enjoyable and offer them up to God.

What am I randomly thankful for? Here’s my slightly and hopefully not unbearably long short list: Electricity, Frosty Root Beer, Apple computers, being able to play Monopoly online against my sister and brother-in-law, spinach, The Dark Knight, fried green tomatoes from Char-Broiler, vinyl records, pens that actually write, my red swingline stapler, the invention of the debit card, the Boston Celtics and their 17 championships, soccer in high definition, and cherry-vanilla ice cream.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and remember to thank God for what you have.

Except for bad hair bands.