I’ve recently seen dozens of my facebook friends accepting the challenge of voicing their thankfulness each day in November up until Thanksgiving. I love the idea and wish I would have joined the trend earlier. All this to say, I still have time.

I’ve decided to condense this idea and instead do a 5 part series leading up to the Day of Thanks. These are in no particular order, rhythm, or rhyme.

Part 1: Imperfections

A few months ago I posted a video about a man that couldn’t draw a straight line yet wanted to create art. Rather than giving up, he embraced his shake and allowed that to open his view of not only art, but creativity as a whole. Since first seeing this video, I’m been encouraged to embrace my imperfections. So today, I am thankful for these imperfections.

I’m thankful that I am a detail-perfectionist personality at times. I love having things planned, sometimes to an annoying point. Recently, I have become more appreciative of this personality trait because I have been able to think of the little details in life, not missing anything.

I’m thankful for my test anxiety. This one was a little more difficult to see as something to be thankful for as it’s not always the best to want to panic each time I see a scantron or essay booklet on the desk in front of me. This semester though, I have used that as more of an encouraging tool for studying a little at a time. Instead of cramming and panicking, I study for multiple days leading up to the test and walk into that classroom on test day prepared with my learned information (and some relaxing exercises).

I’m thankful for my oversensitivity. It may not be the oversensitive you are thinking of – I don’t bruise super easily, I can’t cry every time I stub my toe, and my eyes don’t water when I’m half a mile from an onion. I tend to take words people say to me as they come. I take them how I think they mean them. I am sensitive to what someone tells me, maybe a little too much at times. This is only beginning to seem like a good thing because it means that I care far greater about someone and what’s coming from their mouth than overlooking each sentence. It allows me to slow my pace at listening, and really think about what they are telling me. (The inklings of a true Psychologist, eh?) Either way I think of it, it’s turning out to be a plus.

I am thankful for my imperfections, although these are only a fraction, I have a much larger list of imperfections that, indeed, I am thankful for also.