Thanksgiving: Realizing We’re Okay Right Now

In my e-book Surviving Uncertainty, one of the tips I offer for getting through challenging times or circumstances is to stop, take a deep breath, and ask yourself, “Am I okay right now?” I wish I could claim credit for that piece of wisdom (which has come in handy on more than one flying or other adventure when things got a bit hairy), but I got it from my mother, who got it from a woman friend of hers who had been through a lot of tough times.
But the reasoning behind that advice is that most of our fears, if it comes down to it, concern the future. In the present, we generally bear down and cope with whatever is thrown at us. But the future looms far scarier. We worry about what might go wrong, or if the money will last, or the storm that seems to be brewing on the horizon. We worry, more than anything else, that we won’t be sufficient for the challenges that may come at us a little further down the road.
The danger to those fears is that if we worry too much about what might be lurking in the future, we can end up paralyzed in the present, unable to think clearly or take helpful steps to avoid or prepare for the storms. So taking a deep breath and asking, “Am I okay right now?” is a way of forcing some perspective on our fears. “Yes,” we usually find ourselves answering, “I’m actually okay right now. I have food, I have clothing. I’m not about to die, and I’m not yet living on a subway grate.” The relief and perspective those realizations offer often calm our fears enough to allow us to think more clearly about how to best navigate whatever rough waters may lie ahead.
So how wonderful a day like Thanksgiving is! For at least one day in the year, no matter what may have gone wrong, or what challenges we face, or how much or how little we may have … we all take a collective deep breath and give thanks for what we have. We acknowledge, on some fundamental level, all the ways in which we really are okay, right now. For at least a moment in time, we don’t worry about next week, or last month. We gather with friends, bow our heads, and give thanks for all the gifts we have, whatever they may be.
We are alive, and we are connected. We are okay, right now. 
The early settlers and explorers didn’t know how they’d make it through the years to come. But the grateful celebration of a good harvest was an acknowledgement, from people who knew all too well how uncertain life could be, that  one should give thanks for enough food for one winter. For being okay right now. The rest, they would figure out as they went.  One moment and challenge at a time.
It’s powerful medicine that we can take with us, long after the turkey is scraped to the bone, the pies are devoured, and the last touchdown has been scored.
 
Lane Wallace is the Editor and Founder of No Map. No Guide. No Limits.