Things I am grateful for

Yesterday I celebrated the Dutch holiday called Sinterklaas. It's a wonderful one-day holiday, but most people only celebrate it when they have young children they can spoil with presents. Now, my family is a little bit different. We LOVE Sinterklaas. Always have, always will. When my two sisters and me were younger, my mom would write poems to accompany the presents, as that is the traditional way of celebrating Sinterklaas. Now, all grown-up, i't's just an overload of presents! :) My parents always buy us some 'bigger' gifts, we have to write a wishlist for that, and plenty of smaller gifts. (Big means a couple of books, or something in that pricerange.) My sisters, me and my parents also buy a small gift of around 5 euro's for everyone else. This year, my boyfriend celebrated with us for the first time, so I ended up spending about 30 euro's for presents. It was a wonderful evening filled with fun, presents and a lot of love. I am so grateful to have a loving family and boyfriend and the opportunity to spend an evening with them. Of course, it's not about the amount of money we spend on gifts. It's about the amount of thought we put in each gift, to make sure the recipient will love it. A bit like christmas, but we don't celebrate that with presents in my family. Just a lot of church and food.

Last night did make me think about how I live my life and everything I am thankful for. So I made a list with the most important things:

1. My family, who are all in good health, more or less. Even though my mother has SLE with its ups and downs, and my sisters both have lung-issues, we are able to spend a lot of quality-time together.Thanks to them, I grew up to be who I am now. I have learned so much of them, but most of all how important it is to give and recieve love.

2. My boyfriend, with whom I'll celebrate our first anniversary in january. I never would have expected that somebody could love me so unconditionally as he does. This is the first relationship I am in, and it has been absolutely life changing so far. To be able to love someone and to be loved back is just... Wow. Not to mention all the fun things we do together. With the holiday season getting started I really look forward to spending time with him and both of our families. My in-laws are wonderful people, so it's something I'll definitely enjoy!

3. My education. Also, to be able to go to school and university without any worries about safety, money, or any issues people in less fortunate positions have. I have been blessed with quite the intelligence and my parents and teachers have always pushed me to make the most of my abbilities. (Not pushed in a negative manner!) Thank God I grew up in a country and a family where that was possible. It has given me plenty of opportunities I otherwise wouldn't have had. I met so many great people in high school and university, I've learned lots and lots of interesting things and I have seen even more.

4. Technology. I wouldn't be writing this here if somebody wouldn't have invented the computer, the internet or even electricity. I wouldn't be able to look at old pictures (or new ones) or skype with a friend temporarily staying in Taiwan. I wouldn't be able to text my boyfriend when my train is late or quickly search for an academic text in a foreign library. Technology has given us so much! (bad inventions included... Nuclear bombs, chemical warfare, big brother is watching you!) My life would look a whole lot different without technology. Not just mine, actually, but pretty much everyone's. A lot of medical advances would otherwise not excist.

5. Basic Needs. I happen to live in the Netherlands, a small country in Europe where we think we have it bad. Economical crisis and all that jazz. Only, I think we're doing quite well, all considering. Most people have roofs over their heads, food to eat, healthcare closeby, warmth in their homes and hot showers. Clothes to put on, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, etc. How many people on this earth lack some or all of those things? During the holiday season, a lot of churches or local charities ask for donations to help people in need. Either people closeby, or people or initiatives in other countries. I find it fascinating that most people only donate something during this season, as if to compensate, so they can enter the new year with a clear conscience. At least they donate something, so yaay :) But why not throughout the year? Even in a wealthy country like Holland there are homeless people, or families that can't buy food. My sister-in-law recently collected food, cans and small presents for the local food-bank. People with little or no money can get a box of free food there every week. That food is often donated by supermarkets who can't sell it anymore in their stores, because of expiration dates or damaged packaging. The whole family and lots of friends chipped in, so she could bring a car full of stuff. Wonderful to see how we all worked together to offer something. Even my boyfriend and me, both students with a VERY limited budget, could afford to help.

And that's what I'm probably most thankful for: to be in a position in life where I have all my basic needs met, a loving network of friends and family to rely on, an education that will help me make some sort of career and all the while, I can still help other people by offering a small amount of time or money.

So, if you read this: I urge you, if you have the time and/or money to do some good somewhere in this world, to help others less fortunate then you, please do so! Every little bit helps. Doing groceries for your elderly neighbour, giving blood at a blood-drive, donating money to charity, donating your old clothes to goodwill, to volunteer at a pet rescue centre... You name it. This world is full of people (and animals!) that could use your help in one way or the other.