Today is an important day. It is Election Day in the United States, of course, and that alone makes it an important day. It is also my husband Mike’s birthday, as well as my cousin Mason’s birthday. Happy Birthday to Mike and Mason, and may the best person for our country win the presidential election. I think you probably join me in being glad Election Day is finally here.

November is an important month for other reasons. This is the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving. Although the actual day is three weeks away, it is time for us to focus on being thankful. There are many reasons to be thankful, even if/when we have challenges. One of my challenges recently relates to Thanksgiving. Before I mention the details of this challenge, I want to clearly state that this is a first world problem. This challenge of mine is not at all on the level of what many people have suffered through, including those in Western NC due to the major destruction there.

Those who know me or have followed my musings may remember that my family has celebrated Thanksgiving in a major way for many years. Until 2022 most of those celebrations occurred in our home in Raleigh, NC. The last few years we had more than sixty people, mainly family who traveled from Maryland to Florida and convened in Raleigh for several days. Since I love decorating and all things beautiful related to tables, over the years I collected sixty-five Thanksgiving china turkey plates for our gatherings. I so enjoyed preparing the tables and did not mind at all the effort required to do so. The beauty of the tables nourished my soul as much as the delicious food plated on them.

Now that we have downsized and are going to the beach or mountains for our Thanksgiving family celebration and eat with paper and plastic, I no longer need sixty-five turkey plates. Although it has been hard to let them go, I decided this year to cut that cord. I kept about twenty of my favorite plates, thinking at some point our nuclear family might “need” them, or that I will leave them to the children and/or grandchildren. I put the others in my favorite consignment store for sale. Although I don’t have a “need” for them now, that was hard for me to do. This challenge is not major in the scope of life, but it was hard for me. Time is a great healer, and I am now ready to let some things go that I have been holding onto. While there is still work to be done in that area, I am making progress.

As you think about this season, what are you thankful for? Certainly we are, or should be, thankful for family and friends with whom to gather around the Thanksgiving table(s.) Good health is a blessing, and one not to be taken for granted. Caring for our bodies by maintaining a healthy weight and exercising to the level of our ability is one way we show gratitude for our good health. We can loosen up some on this at special meals like Thanksgiving, but not by much.

With only a little more than a month and a half left in this year, what are your remaining goals for 2024? It isn’t too late to focus on changes we want to make. It is never too late to get started. Yes, today is a very important day, but tomorrow is also, and the days after. Regardless of our country’s decision for President and the other elected offices, we individually need to continue to work on being our best selves. We have the ability to impact our own lives more than anything or anyone else.

Let’s make this very important day the beginning of a very important year. If we work diligently, we can make a lot of progress on our commitments, especially commitments to ourselves.