Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
There Is Always Something To Be Thankful For
November 29, 2005
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving holiday, whether you stayed at home or travelled somewhere else. Before Thanksgiving dinner at our house, Karen always likes to go around the table and have everyone say one thing that he or she is thankful for. Sometimes there are people or kids who consider it a pain in the neck to have to come up with something meaningful on the spot. I'll bet if you asked those same people to say one thing they are not thankful for, they would start to recite a list.

To be honest, there were times when I thought it was a pain in the neck too, but this simple tradition made me think afterwards that there is indeed a lot to be thankful for. Oftentimes we can even be thankful for things that seem like they are negative. For example, I am thankful:

For my wife who puts me on the spot becasue it means we are still married, healthy, and celebrating Thanksgiving together.

For having to remind my son to help clean the dishes after dinner because he is home to listen to me and not out on the streets getting into trouble.

For the taxes that I know I have to pay next year because it means that I have been employed this year.

That the only spots left in the mall parking lot are the ones marked "handicapped" because it reminds me that I am so healthy that I am not elegible to use them.

For the snarled traffic due to demonstrators along Stevens Creek Blvd. because I know the concept of free speech is alive and well.

For the neighbor's dog who barks at night, because my hearing is still good enough that it bothers me.

For knowing that I have to clean out the mess in the garage because I do have a garage and have been fortunate to buy so much stuff.

That my muscles ache after working to clean out the garage all day because I know that I am still capable of working hard all day.

And finally, I am thankful that I had to make time to write this Scoutmaster Minute, because I knew there would be lots of scouts here tonight, listening, and thinking of what they themselves can be thankful for, so that I could say...

Thanks for listening.