If you follow the news, you're probably aware of what an enormous crap sandwich the past few weeks have been around the world. In times like this it's easy to forget what a wonderful, beautiful place the world is and how many good people are in it. Happiness is an amazing panacea for strife, sadness and fear. At the very least it's a great distraction. We're not suggesting that you ignore the rest of the world and trot blindly into the sunset, just that you take a moment during this holiday season to get some perspective. For that reason we wanted to give you three things to be thankful for.
1) Because People Are Good.
Right now, in a million places around the world people are doing good things to try and make the world better or easier. People are helping the injured, people are showing compassion to their neighbors, people are opening the doors for each other or letting people go first at four way stops. People are taking time out of their busy day to make someone else feel better. We see a lot of really good people. The majority of the people we see are wonderful. People like volunteer DeEtte, who's here several days a week offering quiet company to the shy, exercise to the bored, treating every animal like it's her own and every person like a friend. We are incredibly lucky to have folks like her.
2) Because We're Never Too Old To Play Like Kids.
Roll down a hill. Throw a ball against a wall. Buy a deck of Uno cards. Take the dog to the beach. Try to remember how to do the Macarena. Humans have the amazing gift of being able to lose themselves in activities. Take advantage of that. If you forget how, hang out with a dog for a while. Get a laser pointer and go play with a cat. Every day here we're surrounded by animals who remind us how to frolic. It's a good thing to remember. If there's breath, there's hope. And there is so much hope in this world.
3) Because No Matter Who You Are, Someone Needs You.
It's just a fact: someone needs you. Maybe they need you because you're mom or dad or because seeing you makes their day. Maybe it's because you throw the ball (FYI: Ophelia REALLY needs someone to throw her ball). Or because you're the only one in the office that makes decent coffee. Or because you scoop the litter box. Somewhere, someone's day is made better by the fact you're in it. Have trouble believing it? Stop by a shelter and hang out with our pets sometime. We guarantee you'll make a dog's day by popping in for some pats or giving a cat some lap-time.
As an organization, we have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. We're grateful to our community that supports us. We're grateful that we have the best staff ever. We're grateful to our volunteers who offer us and our animals so much love. We're grateful to our amazing foster peeps who open their homes and their hearts. We're grateful that we seem to get the absolute best animals and the most amazing people come to adopt them.
And of course we're grateful for this brave kitten, even if he does lack foresight:
Have a great Thanksgiving.