Acknowledging the good you have in your life is the foundation for all abundance

                                                – Eckhart Tolle –

What a year.

Picking through the good times and bad, the highs and the lows has been an interesting task, particularly at this time of year as Thanksgiving rolls around. Thanksgiving has become a three-month festival of food for folks from different countries. Canadians start chasing the turkey in October, the U.S. in November, and Cayman’s own time of giving thanks starts when the hurricanes end on the first Sunday in December. 

Most of our ancestors back then dedicated a day to give thanks just for being alive. Canadians and Americans owe a debt of gratitude for the harvest, while here we bring out the hurricane supplies and rejoice that some storm didn’t completely squash us again.  And this year, we are oh-so-thankful that we can wander around mask-free, unlike much of the world.

Someone once said that good things can be bad if you look at the dark side, and bad things can be good if you look at the bright side. It’s a matter of perception and of choice. OK so it’s a bad idea to sneeze on your sister, and a good idea to stay home when you’re (now both) sick. But hey! That’s a good thing coming out of a bad situation. Besides the fact that you get to miss school, you don’t get to infect the teacher, half the class and their families.

Yes, good things do come in small (in this case microscopic) packages. For example, who would have thought this whole COVID mess would result in a run on toilet paper that would in turn result in so many crazy jokes on one’s email? Never dismiss something that made you smile.

The old common sniffle-and-sneeze we used to endure can now cause panic in the ranks and result in visions of being pursued by a gang of masked marauders armed with long Q-tips destined for the back of your nostrils. I long for the day when we treated the flu with a bit more sympathy, and less worry.

I recall shopping with the kids one day, and picking up some cough drops for the eldest, Warren, who had a cold.  He of course bragged to the others about the ‘candy’ he’d been given.

“We want one too!” came a chorus of wails.

Frowning in his direction I said, “Warren is sick, that’s why he got one.”

Usually I am smarter than that, but it was out before I thought.

Warren turned and said quietly out of the corner of his mouth: “Ya hafta cough first”.

The hacking and coughing din that ensued was louder than a bingo hall at closing time. If ya hafta cough these days, do so quietly to avoid the old Q-tip.

Indeed, bad things can be good if you look on the bright side. You can’t shop in Miami any more? So you shop at home and help the economy. You miss the camaraderie of the workplace? So you work at home and avoid the traffic jams.

These days we don’t move around the world as much. That’s bad for the airline, cruise and oil industries, but good for the atmosphere, and maybe a kick-start for environmental awareness.

Maybe by giving thanks we lay the foundation of abundance in our lives. Maybe by thinking differently we might make a change in our world. Maybe it’s time.