Feeling Philosophical

When I was going to college I didn't take classes on writing or business. Which frankly, those are the type of classes I should have taken, seeing where my life has taken me, but...

I took classes on Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology.
Mainly because I like people. I like to get in their heads and see what makes them tick.
See what makes them do what they do.
 I love meeting new people, sharing ideas with them and helping them achieve what they want in life.
Bottom line is...People fascinate me.

BUT...My post today has to do with being grateful. (But watch the rest will show itself, in some way or another it always does)

I am ashamed of myself for being lazy and not posting "What I am thankful for on Thanksgiving", but shouldn't we be thankful every day of our lives?

I was reading a blog this morning and it was titled, "Are you Thankful, Even for the bad stuff?"
http://chickletslit.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/are-you-thankful-even-for-the-bad-stuff/

I'm a firm believer in "Everything Happens For A Reason." And "When one door closes, Another one opens."
And the big one: "You have no one to blame but yourself."

Let's say your car breaks down. Well a car needs to be maintained to keep it running. That, I would think would be a forefront reason, wouldn't you say? But maybe it broke down, so that you wouldn't be at a certain place at a certain time. Ever stop to think about that?

As for one door closing, I was going to use your job as an example, but with our economy so messed up and so many people out of work, I'll use relationships instead. Maybe you finally break up, swearing never again, and someone walks through that new door, that you spend the rest of your life with, wondering how you ever lived without them, and this brings us to choices.

The choices we make shape our lives. You can choose to take that new job, or walk away from that old relationship, and with those choices you still have no idea how your life is going to change, let's say 10 years down the road. I tend to cringe when someone asks, "Where do you want to be in 10 years?" Normally this is a question asked for a business plan. Well, first off I don't want to be broke and homeless. But life happens, people change, family and friends, come into and out of your life. Things happen that we have no control over and sometimes it's other people's choices that affect our lives.

So I'm not thankful for the bad things, but I do understand that everything happens for a reason, even if I don't understand or agree with it.

As to what I'm thankful for...
My Family
My Friends
That I have a house to live in and food to eat.
My dogs and my son's dogs.
And all the other things that have shaped my life so far.
And I am thankful that I have the ability to make choices, whether good or bad, in my life.

Now how does this relate to writing, you ask..