Brother David Steindl-Rast, Want to be happy? Be grateful.

I symbolically celebrated Thanksgiving as I was growing up in Mexico. None in our family was American, nor were descendants from one. But still, my parents wanted to have a day at the year where we could be together and grateful or better yet, be grateful that we could be together.

I moved to the US where I lived from 2007 till 2013. For six years I spent Thanksgiving in different places amongst amazing, warm and lovely people. I never spent a Thanksgiving by myself... For six years! People, friends and more than friends invited me in, comforted and nourished my soul with turkey, sweet wine and spicy love.

Today I thought, I would make a conscious effort to create a space where I could reflect on this.

I am grateful I can see my country waking up from the stupor it was installed in, out of sheer and violent indignation. Finally! I am joyful we are recovering a sense of OUR place in society and OUR place in time. Not only that, we are beginning to think we could have a role in the way our country can be shaped, which really is the point I believe.

I'm happy I can trust in my intuition and look forward to changes and new challenges. I'm thankful I have a mind that has helped me introspect and will take me to the future, not any kind of future but for sure, a better one. I realize how lucky my position is and I will certainly take advantage of it. I felt for the past few days how some of the art work I have been slowly making progress on, has already been done by other artists, but I'm happy to understand the fact I will not run out of inspiration or ideas.

I'm so lucky most of all, I am not alone, I'm thankful to have people around me. Family and friends that have been meaningful and giving, supportive and fun, here and abroad.

Teaching is such a vast landscape, I'm grateful I can learn and share knowledge with my talented students. To see them getting excited has no importance on my salary, that moment is precious.

So, as Brother Davis Steinl-Rast says: "Opportunity is the gift within every gift... If you miss the opportunity of this moment, another moment is given to us... We can avail ourselves to this opportunity or we can miss it... If we avail ourselves to this opportunity, that is the key to happiness." 

It's easy: Stop, Look, Go. 

Now.