Thanksgiving this year has really got me thinking about gratitude and thankfulness, and I am really grateful for my circumstances this year. I know, I should feel thankful and grateful every year, but this year I’m feeling some extra gratitude. Many people don’t have it as good as me so if anything I owe it to them to pause and give thanks rather than take what I have for granted. Overall life has been getting better for me and I have a duty to acknowledge and give thanks.

Firstly, my parents have been doing a lot more for me this year and as a result I’ve gotten closer to them as people. To clarify, I mean that in a them being there for me type of way, so far through the year I’ve grown closer to them and I feel like I can conversate with them about subjects that aren’t academical. That may not seem like a lot but that's this is the first time I can truthfully say that, so it's a win for me none the less. This in turn has helped my own self worth and as a result, I’ve been more social this year. I haven’t been held back by anxiety or anything else that much and it's certainly a change for the better.

Finally, I’m thankful for my brother, just like my parents I’ve started to develop a deeper relationship with him. Over the course of my life, I really didn’t like my brother and could hardly talk to him at all, but now that we’re both older we can get over all the petty brotherly rivalries and start a friendship, and I’m especially happy and grateful about that. When we were younger, like around 5-7 we had an ok relationship, we’d play with each other and laugh and have good times all round. After that age, our relationship just devolved into petty bickering and fighting, and it stayed that way until I was about 14. After that point we stopped our fighting and started slowly improving our relationship. Now it is the best it has ever been and I’m nothing but grateful.

Life in general has been better for me, it just seems like whenever I feel a little bit more sunshine on me than I used to, it may sound corny but it’s true! Whenever I wake up now I just feel so much better about myself than I used to, and that's all due to the reasons stated above. One more thing I’m glad about is that I have the outlets to express my gratitude and just my thoughts in general. Whether I’m going through good times or bad, it is a good thing to have ways to express yourself and how you feel, so I’m always thankful for that.