Forced thankfulness - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

One of the most powerful aspects of a newspaper like The Citizen is that it offers a snapshot in time from the view of the community. In this issue, for example, a few of our correspondents reflect on Thanksgiving and all we have to be thankful for, even if it might not feel like it.

 

This week, columnists have opined on just how lucky we Canadians are. Things, notably, are not perfect, but when the rest of the world is considered, we are doing pretty well here. This sentiment, in this week’s issue, is paired with a handful of obituaries for community members - friends and neighbours, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters - who, in my humble opinion, left us entirely too early. 

 

This matter of perspective is so important and it’s often hard to remember as we get so wrapped up in our own matters of day-to-day life. Deadlines, life’s inconveniences, the cost of living, minor health challenges - these are all things that can occupy an outsized amount of real estate in our brains when we fail to maintain perspective on how well off we actually are. Some will say we’re blessed, others will say that we’re lucky, but, either way, it’s hard to argue that we’re not fortunate.

 

It’s hard to throw a stone and not hit a social media user commenting on some “rage-bait” post about how the Canadian experiment has failed and that this country, sharply declining as a result of 12 years and counting of Liberal rule, is dead and, frankly, not worth saving. As conversations continue, inevitably, the reason said commentator feels this way is almost always tied to some hard-line right-wing idea or just straight-up racism, dropping any hint of civility, using slurs to express his anger with too many brown folks at his local Tim Hortons.

 

The answer for them tends to be relocation to the recently-liberated United States of America where the freedom to be racist is alive and well and there are even jobs waiting for those who like beating up people of colour.

 

But enough about those souls who are too far gone to be saved. Let’s talk about normal people and how they (we) interface with the concept that we are, relatively, lucky, and whether we’re being sufficiently grateful.

 

This is something I’ve struggled with in recent years and have even written about before. Meeting any person in their fifties or sixties and up (who has been lucky enough to be a parent), in my position, usually comes with a rose-coloured-glasses-fuelled refrain about enjoying these days with our kids. They will - these days, not the kids - be gone before you know it, they’ll say. This is true and I work tirelessly to remember that, but Jess and I are also in the thick of it right now and, as a result of these glorious times with our young kids, are eternally tired, relatively broke and often frustrated as our children test boundaries.

 

I have to be active in the fight to remind myself how great of a life I have, at times. I have a loving wife and two beautiful, healthy kids. We own a house (well, we will one day) in a beautiful part of a magnificent country. Jess and I both have great jobs that we love to do. And, while the cost of living is a burden on everyone, especially those with small children, we are able to maintain a reasonably stable lifestyle and do not want for any necessities.

 

We are lucky to have all that we do and something like Thanksgiving - or the stories I mentioned in this week’s issue of The Citizen - is a welcome reminder to always look on the bright side of life, as the great Eric Idle once sang. Most Canadians take for granted joys that many around the world can only dream about. It’s easy to forget, but we mustn’t.