Thanks giving may typically be an American Holiday but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t give thanks too. Regardless of your circumstances, there will always be something to be thankful for. Just look around and I’m sure you’ll find lots of reasons to give thanks.

Here a couple of mine.   

I’m thankful that I’ve been healthy for the bigger part of this year. Apart from the few bouts of flu and headaches, I’ve been in good health. No complications or freak accidents and I’m thankful for the wellbeing of my family as well.

 I also want to thank God for the peace in this country. Once in a while, you’ll hear of a robbery some place or a fight elsewhere but I’ve not read or heard about life-threatening incidents. If they have happened but for some reason went unreported, my apologies to the victims. Overall though, Rwanda is not your Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and all those places plagued by war and terrorism. Thank God for that. My heart goes out to those who wake up each day not knowing whether they’ll live to see the next day. People who no longer feel safe to do ordinary tasks because every single place is targeted by terrorists. It could be a local supermarket in a small village, a bus taking school children home from school, a Church…

I’m glad I have a job. I mentioned before that it’s not my dream job but I don’t know many people doing their dream jobs. I get my pay cheque every month, a couple of days after the conventional pay day and it’s nowhere near a six-figure, but it comes nonetheless. On the whole, I’m in a better place than I was this time last year. Not exactly rich but not scrapping either. Pretty soon, I’ll be moving into my own place. Every time I think how far I’ve come, I thank the Lord for opening all the doors He has. There’re also my acquisitions. No cars or super cool gadgets yet but I do have the basics anyone needs to survive. Those other things will come in due course. I’m also glad that slowly but surely, I’m getting into the habit of saving. Again, not millions but I get to put something aside and I’m positive that someday, the amounts will get bigger. I’ve always tried to save but at the first sign of an emergency, I run to the bank and drain the account. You can say that I’m now able to resist that urge.

For the generally better lives we lead today compared to a century ago. I can’t imagine surviving in the 1920s for example. The time when you had to walk everywhere, no fast food, Internet, mobiles or television, no education for the majority of girls, arranged marriages for girls as young as 13 after which you were expected to have at least eight children and so many other challenges. How did those women cope? With all the challenges we face today, I believe things are generally better.

Last but certainly not least are the seemingly simple yet crucial things like good weather, clean water and electricity. We take things like these for granted forgetting that millions around the world don’t enjoy the same. Reading about 6.5 or higher magnitude earthquakes, Tsunamis, hurricanes, snow storms and heat waves in some regions should get us to appreciate the African Climate more and do whatever we can to protect the environment.

There may not have been any  turkeys, pies or mashed potatoes at my home, but there was a grateful heart.

To be continued…
nsophie77@yahoo.com