Why Are We Thankful?

Caravaggio - Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge

Circa 1603, Public domain. 

 

As November’s light grows thin and golden, we find ourselves asking an old question with roots deeper than any holiday: Why are we thankful? It’s a question worth dusting off every year, the way one polishes a well-used garden tool — not for novelty, but because time gives it a different shine.

Thankfulness isn’t some syrupy sentiment we haul out for the turkey’s sake. It’s older than that. Harder. Seedier. It’s the posture of people who know that life has never been guaranteed, and yet here we are — still breathing, still striving, still finding beauty in a world that can be rough around the edges.

Below are a few enduring reasons that tug gratitude out of us, year after year.

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1. Because simple things are still enough

A warm mug between cold hands.
A quiet hour at dawn before the day’s racket begins.
A small harvest — whether from the soil, or from our labor — that reminds us we can still coax good things from the world.

These humble pieces of life have carried more weight than grand triumphs ever did.

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2. Because people matter, even the complicated ones

Family, friends, neighbors — the folks who bless us, vex us, steady us, or sharpen us.
We do not choose all of them, but they shape us all the same. Welcome them all to the table.

There is something ancient and grounding about knowing we do not walk alone.

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3. Because hardship hasn’t had the final word

Every scar holds a story.
Every disappointment taught us something we were too stubborn to learn any other way.
And every narrow escape or unexpected mercy whispers that maybe — just maybe — we’re being carried farther than our own strength can explain.

Gratitude often grows best in the soil turned over by trouble.

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4. Because beauty is still breaking through

Even in a weary world, beauty keeps sneaking back in — a blaze of autumn leaves, a bird cutting against the wind, a shared laugh that clears the air.

It’s hard to stay cynical when the world insists on being lovely in spite of itself.

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5. Because tomorrow still matters

Being thankful is a forward-looking act.
It says: I haven’t given up. I still expect good things. I still believe the future can be tended, cultivated, and improved.

Hope has always been the quiet backbone of gratitude.

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Now It’s Your Turn

I’ve told you some of why I’m thankful.
But the real richness comes when we share these things together — a patchwork of stories and reasons, as varied as a garden in full bloom.

What are you thankful for this year?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Big reasons, small reasons, hard-won reasons — they all matter.

Let’s gather them up like a harvest and remember: gratitude grows best when shared.

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