Why is it so hard to give thanks?
This is something I constantly struggle with. It’s so easy to lose sight of what we have and who we are in the constant thrust of day-to-day life. I get launched into my routine, I get side-tracked by text messages, I find myself floating from conversation to conversation, sentence to sentence in (sometimes) mind-numbing reading assignments. At no point do I stop to take stock of who I am, where I am, what I have, and where it all comes from. Giving thanks doesn’t require much. If anything, it necessitates perspective. Where does this abundance—all that I have, from breath to bread—where does it come from? In order to give thanks, I have to remind myself that these things that bless my life—be it family, friends, food, fleeces in frigid weather—none of these things come from me. I did not pick my family; I did not accept my friends into Duke; I did not prepare the chicken tikka masala at Tandoor; nor did I make this Randolph quarter zip that I definitely over wear. Where did t