The Thanksgiving holiday is almost here. I like to use the occasion each year to give thanks for my blessings.
I try to remind myself every day of everything that I have to be thankful for; it”s just that I am often overwhelmed by the day-to-day stresses of life.
There are only so many hours in which to meet my ever-increasing responsibilities.
Only some of these responsibilities were accepted voluntarily. Others were forced upon me by outside circumstances.
I don”t think I am the only person who must meet more obligations during the same finite hours each day. Twenty-four hours is all any of us get. Knock out at least 10 hours for sleep, because I”ve discovered that I just can”t function on the so-called minimum, eight. That leaves me with 14 hours each day to do everything that needs to be done.
I took an online stress level assessment that indicated to me that I have an 80-percent probability of developing stress-related illness in the coming year.
This awareness for me is actually an object of gratitude. The risk of continuing my present course has been communicated to me, which means that, clearly, I need to make changes in my life.
Exactly what form these changes will take presently remains to be seen, aside from a general plan for my family and me. I am hoping that as time goes by, the details will emerge.
My husband and I moved to Lake County almost 13 years ago to be closer to his job and because of that move, I”ve been privileged to work for two Northern California newspapers.
During the years that I have worked for the Clear Lake Observer-American and the Lake County Record-Bee, I have tried to mirror the example set for me by Texas columnist Molly Ivins. So much about her life was an inspiration to me: her civic engagement, her love of “big words” and her advocacy for early breast-cancer detection. I honor her by attempting to cast an informed vote in elections, by increasing my vocabulary and by being up-front about my diagnosis with an autism spectrum disorder.
Outside of work, I have the opportunity to volunteer in my community and to improve myself by going back to school. I hold an office in a local club and regularly go to church.
At the same time, however, I preserve the ability to make changes in my life if circumstances no longer fit. I am dropping some of the commitments I am no longer able to meet.
So as I look forward to this Thanksgiving holiday, one of the things I”m most grateful for is the ability to change. To be sure, my efforts will have to be in harmony with the conditions of my surroundings. I have to stay within the laws of nature and of society but, beyond that, I need obtain no one”s permission to make the necessary changes.
Ultimately, all of us have the power to reinvent ourselves. Is that scary? It certainly can be, but ah, what an opportunity.
Cynthia Parkhill is the focus pages editor for the Record-Bee and editor of the Clear Lake Observer-American. She can be contacted at ObserverAmerican@gmail.com or 263-5636 ext. 39.
