Give thanks

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the US. I’m not American, I don’t live in America, and none of my American friends are close enough to invite me to a Thanksgiving Dinner. But given that I’m known to rant about how much I hate the way the UK has adopted Black Friday while ignoring Thanksgiving – ie that the UK has decided to continue paying obeisance to its chief god, money, while avoiding even this secularised version of something historically associated with its old God – I figured I’d do a small part to promote a good practice associated with that American holiday that precedes Black. That is the practice of saying a few things you’re thankful for. 

I’ve been to a few Thanksgiving dinners. At least a couple were with American friends in the UK, and one was with my American sister in the US. Towards the end of the meal, they often go around the table and ask people to say at least one thing they’re thankful for. It can be more than one thing. It can be something big or something small. It can be something trivial or something deep. It can be about today or about the year. I’ll give six things, one for each of those.

Something about today: today I went to a Reshape class at 1Rebel. That’s a HIIT exercise similar to Barry’s (formerly Barry’s Bootcamp) in which you spend 45 minutes alternating between running on a treadmill and doing bodyweight and dumbbell exercises on the floor. The trainer shouts out 3 numbers when you’re on the treadmill, one each for beginner, intermediate and advanced runners. I think I did my first Barry’s in January this year. At that one, I had to pull back from the beginners’ numbers, and I was surprised and happy that I both completed it and didn’t hate it. At the end, it took me over 30 minutes to recover (cool down, shower etc), and then I could barely walk afterwards. Today I did an intermediate class without any modifications to make it easier, and in the last run I realised I could’ve gone faster. I got out of there about 15 minutes later and I can walk (though still with some pain!). And I still don’t hate it. I love that progress and I’m really thankful for it.

Okay, that kinda also counted as being about this year, but I’ll give another one about this year. This year I threw a birthday party for myself. The last time I did that was 7 years ago, in 2018. The party was great. I really should do that kind of thing more often. It made me really thankful for my friends and home in London.

Something trivial: I’m thankful that I won not one, but two pairs of tickets in separate Wimbledon ballots this year! (Though I still need to confirm the second pair.)

Something deep: at the risk of showing just how not deep I am, I’m going to quote something here

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

I kinda like, kinda hate this quote. I kinda hate it not just because it feels kinda pretentious (and I feel pretentious quoting it here 😅), but also because I hate having to wait long for answers, for resolutions to these kinds of questions. But I’m thankful that I’m learning to, and I’m hopeful that I will live into the answer, hopefully not into too distant a day.

Something small: yesterday was the UKs 2025 Autumn Budget. I make enough money that it was a small event for me. That’s something that I’m not thankful enough for.

Something big: all the people in my life. :) Yes, yes this one’s done a lot, but it’s not overdone, at least not by me.