Gratitude on Thanksgiving-Chanuka

Focusing on gratitude is an awesome thing. The holidays of thanksgiving and chanuka both have this particular characteristic, and I feel that feeling grateful for one's blessings is a fundamental guide to happiness in life.

Imagine I woke up in the morning and truly, from the bottom of my heart, thanked God for a new day, rather than trying to roll over and catch five more minutes, only to be interrupted and then be grouchy for the remainder of the morning. I made a Spotify playlist at one point specifically to this point, with all the happy morning songs that I could find, and it really helped me get my day started in the right way. (Extra points if you can find the song that was quoting!) This is my list:

Carole King – Beautiful
Bobby McFerrin – Simple Pleasures
Raffi – Thanks a Lot
Ameritz Tribute Standards – Kind and Generous
Bobby McFerrin – Sweet In The Morning (Featuring Voicestra)
U2 – Beautiful Day
Raffi – All I Really Need
Shlomo Carlebach – V'Chol Hachayim
Matisyahu – Sea to Sea - Live Album Version
Mumford & Sons – Awake My Soul
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
Aaron Razel – Suddenly a Man Is Born
Joni Mitchell – Chelsea Morning
Sting – Brand New Day
Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World
Cat Stevens – Morning Has Broken
Abbey Road – Here Comes The Sun
John Denver – Sunshine on My Shoulders
John Legend – Good Morning
Lauryn Hill – I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind
Katrina – Walking On Sunshine (Made Famous by Katrina & The Waves)
Bill Withers – Lovely Day
Brett Dennen – Blessed

We (I should say I do this, but I don't think I'm alone) spend a lot of time feeling unhappy with small details in our lives that we want to fix, that we feel should change and so on. I think this is a motivating tendency, and change comes about because disequilibrium is within us. So in that sense, it is helpful to be dissatisfied sometimes. Granted, some will argue that it is possible to remain grateful and positive while still working to improve. I certainly hope so, but I think most people don't operate on that level. However, I think that separating out the gratitude to particular moments and occasions is a nice way to accomplish a balance. We all feel that we need to improve our __________________ (fill in the blank with your own stuff- bodies, careers, social lives, parenting skills, personality traits like anger, impatience or laziness, etc.)-- but it is a great teacher and reminder that we are so blessed with gifts that we have been given.

Lamentations, an extremely depressing book from the Bible addressing a destroyed city of Jerusalem, has a series of statements in third chapter:

כב  חַסְדֵי ה' כִּי לֹא-תָמְנוּ, כִּי לֹא-כָלוּ רַחֲמָיו.	22 Surely the LORD'S mercies are not consumed, surely His compassions fail not.
כג  חֲדָשִׁים, לַבְּקָרִים, רַבָּה, אֱמוּנָתֶךָ.	23 They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.
כד  חֶלְקִי ה' אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי, עַל-כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ.	24 'The LORD is my portion', saith my soul; 'Therefore will I hope in Him.'

Out of a feeling of depression and I daresay hopelessness, one could be discouraged-- and I think that there are moments in the book of Lamentations where the author is just that. Here, though, the author digs his way out of his melancholy with gratitude in the mornings. The Rabbinic tradition borrowed this phrase, and I think, alludes to this line of thinking, in the morning prayer of gratitude.

מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה. רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ.

I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.

May we find inspiration from our thanksgiving holidays and bring the gratitude we feel into our lives every single day, starting with the mornings. And may that bring us the joy the Psalmist discussed in Psalm 100:

א  מִזְמוֹר לְתוֹדָה:    הָרִיעוּ ה', כָּל-הָאָרֶץ.	1 A Psalm of thanksgiving. Shout unto the LORD, all the earth.
ב  עִבְדוּ אֶת-ה' בְּשִׂמְחָה;    בֹּאוּ לְפָנָיו, בִּרְנָנָה.	2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing.
ג  דְּעוּ--    כִּי ה', הוּא אֱלֹהִים: הוּא-עָשָׂנוּ, ולא (וְלוֹ) אֲנַחְנוּ--    עַמּוֹ, וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתוֹ.	3 Know ye that the LORD He is God; {N} it is He that hath made us, and we are His, His people, and the flock of His pasture.
ד  בֹּאוּ שְׁעָרָיו, בְּתוֹדָה--חֲצֵרֹתָיו בִּתְהִלָּה;    הוֹדוּ-לוֹ, בָּרְכוּ שְׁמוֹ.	4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; give thanks unto Him, and bless His name.
ה  כִּי-טוֹב ה', לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ;    וְעַד-דֹּר וָדֹר, אֱמוּנָתוֹ	5 For the LORD is good; His mercy endureth for ever; and His faithfulness unto all generations.

For it is only after we approach God with gratitude for His kindnesses that we can truly come before Him with joy and singing. We relinquish control over everything, and we understand our place in the world beside our creator. It's good to be reminded once in a while.