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Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

418 points by japhyr ↗ HN
I think this gets asked most years, and I always enjoy the threads that come out of it. I am thankful for a family that I enjoy spending the holidays with. I am thankful that I had a safe childhood and got a good education throughout my life.

I am also thankful for the HN community. People dump on this site sometimes, but over most of the past decade HN has been an overwhelmingly positive part of my life. Thank you to everyone for what you bring to the community here.

303 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 228 ms ] thread
veddox
We don't generally celebrate Thanksgiving here in Germany, but perhaps we should :-)

I'm thankful for the strength to tackle my tasks and responsibilities, many dear friends near and far and a family that is still (for the most part) close by. Also, the opportunity to spend my life working on things I enjoy and that have a positive impact on others.

techsin101
Healthy recovery of my close relative
spydum
Incredibly thankful for the overwhelming opportunity we are all afforded in our industries. As many gripes and flaws we all enjoy pontificating about, there simply is no other line of work such as ours.
vmurthy
I am thankful for a wonderful family. We have our moments of despair but I don't know where I would be without a loving wife and an overly curious 5 year old kid :)

I am thankful for coming across a habit that makes me think about what I am thankful for regularly. This has really helped me overcome a pessimistic nature and provides a sort of regular check-in on my life.

johnny313
My wife, 3 kids, and a loving community of friends. Sometimes hard to remember how important these people are during the ups and downs of regular life.
muzani
I'm thankful for my mental health. Seems like these days half my friends are on anti-anxiety and depression medication.

I'm thankful for my physical health too. I may be a little overweight but it's still above average for my friend group. I get sick maybe twice a year, certainly beats being on dialysis or whatever.

I'm thankful for having a family, someone I belong to, and who belongs to me.

I'm thankful for having a good job. We get stressed out sometimes (downsides of a startup), but they're all good, honest folk. And we haven't adopted bureaucratic processes yet, so it's been great for my flow.

randycupertino
I'm in a similar boat- thankful for my dog, my partner, my house and - a big one for me this year - beating depression and losing 40lbs. Good job that I love as well.

All in all this year has had a lot of major ups and downs but really thankful for my progress and overall for my health and happiness!

GaryNumanVevo
ME TOO. I somehow seem to have a well of emotional and mental energy to work on hobbies and nearly everyone I know struggles with motivation.
peteretep
> Seems like these days half my friends are on anti-anxiety and depression medication.

I am immensely grateful for my anti-anxiety medication.

thecatspaw
I too am immensely grateful for my ADHD medication. I would still prefer to not _need_ them.
op00to
Anti-anxiety medication doesn't seem to be working for me, but I am having a hard time figuring out what to do next with my psychiatrist. It's not as if switching medication is somehow better than sticking with something that's of unknown efficacy. Ugh.
joegahona
I'm sorry to hear that. My psychiatrist told me the anti-anxiety/-depressant I'm taking is noticeably effective in 1/3, someone effective in 1/3, and not effective in 1/3. I got lucky and fell into the first group. I would've definitely jumped around to other medications had this not worked so noticeably and so quickly, but that's easy to say. A friend of mine who wasn't seeing good results from the typical medications has started something called Rexulti, which he told me has been a godsend.
peteretep
That sucks. Everyone’s different but, some anecdotes from my experience...

The Lexapro that I’m on right now basically did nothing for me at 10mg, but I stuck with it for almost a year. I eventually went to try and get something else, and humoured the psych by trying to go to 15mg first. The change was dramatic and positive.

I started doing the keto diet for strictly weight related reasons, and found that as a side effect it also had a big impact. Took eight weeks or so before I noticed a difference.

Cutting my alcohol consumption has also seemed to have a pretty good effect.

I’ve found beta blockers to be great for any break-through anxiety, but might be placebo effect.

joegahona
Same. I can't describe how thankful I am that a freaking pill [!] exists that can prevent dark thoughts from digging their claws in. It's been almost two years now and I wish I'd had this my whole life.
throwaway8879
Thankful for still breathing. It didn't seem like a possibility just a few years ago.
zitterbewegung
Having a well paying job that I enjoy.

Having a supportive family where we can enjoy Thanksgiving together.

All the things I have achieved this year such as getting promoted and learning more about NLP with deep learning.

Getting rid of a lot of debt.

didgeoridoo
I’m thankful for the heart donor who saved my newborn daughter’s life last week.

My daughter contracted Coxsackie B enterovirus at 2 weeks old, and it scarred her left ventricle beyond repair. Her donor has given her a second chance. Another family had to make a heartbreaking choice at a devastating moment, and they chose to give life to my daughter and probably several other gravely ill infants.

Check your organ donor status please. Happy Thanksgiving.

arkitaip
That's really great to hear. I wish your daughter and family the best.
27182818284
That's amazing! I'm super happy for you and your family!

Your comment gave me pause because it reminded me that it is opt-in not opt-out. It is an election cycle, I wonder if we could convince one of the candidates to switch us to opt-out rather than opt-in for organ donation.

vageli
> That's amazing! I'm super happy for you and your family!

> Your comment gave me pause because it reminded me that it is opt-in not opt-out. It is an election cycle, I wonder if we could convince one of the candidates to switch us to opt-out rather than opt-in for organ donation.

While I am personally an organ donor, I don't believe the state should be the defacto owner of my organs post mortem.

27182818284
>While I am personally an organ donor, I don't believe the state should be the defacto owner of my organs post mortem.

Ahh you can't leave us hanging with just that. Can you elaborate more?

vageli
That's fair—while I think the state should be the owner of last resort (as in the case where no next of kin are available and the deceased did not leave a will or similar documentation of their wishes), I think the ownership of a deceased person's organs should transfer to their next of kin (if and only if the deceased did not express any wishes about their body post mortem), to be disposed of (in the legal sense) as they see fit.
Aeolun
So who do they belong to? The earth that they’re eventually going back to?

I think emotionally I agree with you, but rationally I just cannot explain it.

snagglegaggle
Ostensibly they should belong to the estate of the deceased. As it is now, in the US (as I understand it) organs and body tissue is in this weird limbo of not being considered property. The original case law around this seems to exist to: 1) make it hard to go after doctors who do things you don't like with your discarded tissue (either destroying it, or giving it to the state for evidence), and 2) prevent trafficking in humans and their organs.

The second part seems to mean that only certain types of nonprofits can accept organs. From there they may or may not be able to profit off of the sale of the organ but instead the services to transport and maintain it. Then at a certain point, you've turned penises into lip filler, and then you can sell the lip filler (at a huge profit).

vageli
I replied elsewhere in the thread, but in a tldr kind of way: I think next of kin should get the organs (or the estate, as another commenter mentioned). In the case where there is no next of kin and the deceased did not express their wishes (in a will or similar), then, and only then, should the state gain custody of the body and dispose of it as the state sees fit.
happysadpanda2
I'd disagree with "as the state sees fit".

I have no problems with my organs being used to help others, either as direct spare parts for others, or for medical research.

But I'd take issue with (well, I'd be dead, so I could no longer take issue, but you catch my drift) my organs being used for just about any other type of research, since that could include research into better ways of killing one another, which I would consider a "bad thing".

SubuSS
Just extending that line of reasoning, what about your organs powering someone who goes on to do such research?
jacquesm
The Netherlands is switching to opt-out, it is a thing of huge controversy here.
C1sc0cat
Interesting it wasn't in the UK which has just done that
cgrealy
I'm all for opt-out for a very simple reason.... doctors don't have to bother families in the midst of grief.

If you don't believe the state should be the defacto owner of your organs (I'd argue it's the recipient that ultimately ends up owning them, but whatever), then you can opt out.

NamTaf
It’s odd here in AU. It is opt-in, but I still (as the de facto partner) had to give final authorisation to go ahead with it. I don’t quite get it, and wish it was more respectful of the deceased.

It’s worth noting though that the process of saying yes and sorting that all out was in fact incredibly healing and cathartic for me. I wouldn’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing for grieving families to be involved in.

tlrobinson
While not strictly relevant, your comment reminded me of this article about how hard it apparently is to get the skull of a deceased relative in the US: “You Can’t Keep Your Parents’ Skulls” https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/09/why-you-...

(the Google searches it took me to find that article surely put me on some watch lists...)

vageli
This was fascinating and something I've never given even a passing thought to. I had long imagined most skeletons were plastic replicas and not the real deal. Thanks for sharing it!
michaelt
I've heard a proposal for a alternative to opt-in and opt-out which is 'forced choice'

How it works is a form to do some other thing (for example, get a driving license) has a checkbox to donate and one to not donate, and the form is rejected as incomplete if you don't choose one or the other.

This of course means you don't have to apply a default to those people, because they've made an explicit choice already.

Of course, you still have to work out what you'll do with people who haven't filled out the form - like the newborn baby mentioned at the start of this thread.

croon
> Of course, you still have to work out what you'll do with people who haven't filled out the form - like the newborn baby mentioned at the start of this thread.

It could be opt-in or opt-out for everyone else. You don't have to solve the problem perfectly to make it better than it is today.

saiya-jin
An idea - this binary choice can be attached to combination of reaching adulthood (18 or similar) and combination of obtaining state ID / passport.

For younger, parents can choose. If somebody wants to argue about teens, they can decide themselves / be not-decided by their choice until reaching adulthood.

hereme888
According to ethics textbooks, even if a person opted-in, the family could still say no to the doctors after the donor passed away.
NamTaf
This is the option I was given in Australia. I don’t quite understand it (I can see arguments, I’m not sure however if they’re valid), but I’m glad not for the choice but rather that I was involved in the process. It was healing.
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MikeTheGreat
I personally like the idea of allowing others to make use of these useful organs, especially since the original owner can't use them anymore and they'll decay within days (if not hours).

That said I don't agree with forcing people to something they don't want to and I know that there are at least a couple of religions out there that forbid cutting up the body after death.

The 'forced choice' option (in one of the other comments) is a really good one, IMHO

cjbprime
> That said I don't agree with forcing people to something they don't want to

It is hard to argue both that not donating one's organs would be a strongly held religious belief, and that someone would not care about it enough to communicate that desire by just opting out.

irjustin
Wow, I'm super thankful for hearing that and as a father of a 2 year old it makes me extremely sad and happy at the same time.

Great thanksgiving it is - Tearing up over here at my desk...

ryeguy_24
So great to read about this on Thanksgiving night. Just had a lovely day with my daughter (20 months). She has added so much joy to my family's life. We hope to do the same for her. You have so much to look forward to. Congrats on fatherhood.
paulie_a
That is great! I contacted an unknown virus that basically destroyed my heart this year. Currently I do not need a transplant but will eventually. I'm thankful for not dieing and my sister for saving my life.
the_arun
This is so nice to hear & thanks for sharing it with us. Believe it or not, just today I was watching "Transplanting Hope" in Amazon Prime (NOVA). Was able to connect immediately!
hi41
I am happy for your family. I am an organ donor. I am also planning to donate my body to a medical institution so that the medical students have a human body to dissect and learn from. I hear that there is a dearth of human bodies.

Since the topic of organ donation came up, I thought of asking this question. This is a real incident. I am not making this up. I met a learned priest. Both I and the priest are hindus. He argued that since God gave us our body and organs at birth, we need to give it back to God the body and all the organs at death. I don't agree with the priests argument. It is just that I am not that smart and don't know how to counter that argument. I am sure there are hindu readers in HN community. Any thoughts on this?

protomyth
When you say "priest", do you mean Catholic priest? It makes a bit of a difference since their are various church decisions on the subject.
vmurthy
Nah. The OP mentions "Hindu" priest.
User23
In case anyone is curious, Catholics actually do have similar concerns about bodily integrity. In contrast to Hinduism, cremation is discouraged. It’s interesting that the same justification has been used both for and against cremation. However organ donation is permitted on the grounds that God approves of life-giving generosity
vmurthy
I am a Hindu myself and I am NOT an atheist. There are two ways I understand the situation:

1. You could argue back to the priest that your organ donation is going to save lives which God would appreciate anyway and have your way :D

2. More broadly, one of the lessons of history [0] is that what begins as a practical way to do something becomes codified into religion because it's far more efficient to get the message across generations. I'd like to believe that burning the body (as many Hindus do) is one such [ Not burning the body may have caused infections and what not in tribal settlements long long ago ] . This being the case, organ donation is a safe way, too. If you're the more scientific kind, you can use this to further convince yourself to donate the body. I know I would use both 1&2 :)

[0] I read about this when researching how Halal and some other practises came about. I will try to dig up the reference but it was ages ago :(

qiqitori
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_organ_donat...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/hinduethic...

https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/your-...

(This is just from a quick Google search)

So here's a (silly) attempt to address the priest's argument directly: what if you lose a part of your body long before your death? Is that okay? If yes, returning an organ a couple decades later than planned shouldn't be that big a problem, no?

BTW, in my religion, saying "I am not that smart and don't know how to..." is a sin :p

gautamdivgi
As a Hindu myself - my 2c on the topic...

Hinduism has no central doctrine, so while this particular priest may hold a view on organ donation (or lack thereof), there will be others who may encourage it. As an example - Lord Ganesha's head is "donated" from an elephant. The concept of organ reuse isn't new. There just wasn't the technology to deal with it in the past.

I may not be as learned as the priest you know. But I have yet to find any of the priests I know tell me organ donation goes against any scripture.

woadwarrior01
I’ve been an atheist for the majority of my life, but I was born and raised in a Southern Dwaitin Brahmin family. And growing up, I did get a fair bit of home schooling on the Vedic texts.

The Vedas, which are considered sacrosanct in all surviving sects of theistic Hinduism. There were once atheist sects like the Ajivikas and the Charvakas, but they went out of fashion a long time ago.

The verses in the Vedic texts can be classified in many different ways. For instance, “Bheda Stutis” and “Abheda Stutis” in the Upanishads (which essentially are Dualist and Monist verses). The classification that I’m interested in touching upon here is the distinction between Karma-kanda and the Jnana-kanda (which translate to procedural canon and the theoretical canon). The procedural part mostly deals with the details on rituals and worship (one bit that I vividly remember is the part on the rituals of animal sacrifice, which might come as a bit of a surprise). The theoretical part deals with the questions around the true nature of Brahman (the ultimate god) and Atman (the individual soul). Hindu priests usually specialise in the former (the part involving rituals) rather than the latter. I wouldn’t trust a lone Hindu priest’s opinion on such doctrinal matters. :)

The Vedic doctrine on your question is fairly unambiguous (which is quite rare for anything in the Vedas). The soul (aka the Atman) always takes precedence. The body is considered to be a mere shell in which the soul temporarily resides. Thinking that the body and the soul to be inextricably linked to the body is considered a common fallacy which even has a Sanskrit term for it (Dehatma bhranti). The body (Deha) is considered temporary and dispensable and the soul (Atman), eternal. What happens to the body after death is merely a procedural implementation detail and will not affect your chances at the lottery to attain Moksha. :)

The priest you spoke to probably is confounding the cremation rituals with the idea of sacrifice (aka Bali).

izietto
There's nothing to be countered, it's not even an argument, it's a personal position
startup_sr
When God asks for your organs that you donated at heaven's gate just tell Him its coming back after another 40 or so years.
jrumbut
Something similar (viral heart damage) happened to my wife this year and I just can't imagine how terrifying that must have been to happen to your child. It's bad enough for an adult.

Thankful that we both got a second chance this year!

vmurthy
I can't imagine the uncertainty and the pain you would have gone through but this news is truly something that gives everyone goosebumps :). Good luck for everything ahead, mate!
big_chungus
This concern has held me back from becoming an organ donor: there have been concerns [0] [1] for many years about use of donor tissue in plastic surgery. I'm more than happy to get turned into life-saving donor parts, but am not okay with being turned into lip fillers for someone to sell to some diva. How can I make sure that my organs go _only_ to life-saving causes?

[0]: https://www.chron.com/news/health/article/Some-donated-tissu...

[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22822698

munmaek
If I’m dead then I don’t think I’d really care much at that point. If more of my dead body can be utilized before it becomes waste, then that’s cool.
big_chungus
Fine, but the point is that I do. I'd like to become an organ donor, and an organ donor _only_. How do I ensure I can do some good without getting cut up for plastic surgery?
frosted-flakes
That family made both a heart saving choice and a heartbreaking one. That other baby's heart lives on in your daughter.

This past summer, my late-20s brother was killed when he was hit by a car while riding his bike. He was an organ donor, and because his heart never stopped beating, his organs (including his heart) went to six or seven other people.

But don't just check your organ donor status, tell the people you love that you're an organ donor. It was completely by chance that we found out that my brother was one just a few days before the accident, and we never found his wallet or his driver's licence, so we probably wouldn't have known his wishes otherwise.

NamTaf
When my partner died (4 years ago now), this was one of the first things I got in order. The AUS organ donor registry was on the ball and actually contacted me first as soon as her death was flagged with with government (these things are time-critical), but I found it incredibly healing to go through the process of sorting this at a time when everything was spiralling out of control and understand that her death wasn’t entirely in vain.

I’ll never know who her skin went on to help, but I know she’d be overjoyed to know she made another final contribution to science.

hycaria
I opted out of organ donation in a country which enables it by default. Looking at it from an evolutionary point of view, I don't see any good in it, sorry.
majos
Confused. You think organ donation is bad because it saves lives that should end for the sake of...maybe a slightly stronger species? Do you disagree with the practice of medicine in general or something?
hycaria
Everything not curative.
munmaek
Do you also abstain from

- hospitals

- medicine

- glasses / other similar implements

- any other human altering measures?

We closed the door on natural evolution a long time ago. Most of us are already cyborgs with our phones and computers. Any future evolution will be done by us (I.e. more advanced cyborgs cyborgs / genetic modification).

hycaria
Everything not curative for a problem that doesn't let you live without treatment is an aberration. Since organ donation is not saving people, but enabling to be dependent on donations every 10 years and immunosuppressants in between (except for cornea transplants), I don't want to enable it.

The much anticipated collapse will apply those sort of rules soon enough anyways.

munmaek
... glasses would fall under that scope.

It's not helpful to still be thinking in such antiquated ways like evolution through the fittest survivors. Humans have not done that for quite a long time, in pretty much every facet of our society you can find that.

As I said, genetic modification and cyber augmentation will be how we evolve moving forward. Advances in medicine has (and will) make worrying about evolution a headscratcher.

> Since organ donation is not saving people,

[Citation Needed]. I would imagine there's many cases, such as accidents, where someone would need an organ and then be perfectly fine afterwards.

JoeAltmaier
Its hubris to imagine that evolution stops. Mating opportunities are controlled by different things for humans vs fish for example. But don't imagine they aren't there, and guiding our species' development.

Homo Sapiens has evolved more in the last 50,000 years, than in the 1M before that. Because of civilization.

munmaek
Random mutations are always going to exist. For the third time, future evolution is going to be directly caused -by us-, on shorter timescales. Because the alternative is letting humans die simply for the sake of evolution.
C1sc0cat
I was just about to say the same about organ donation status.

I am very thankful my Kidney donor and to all the teams that support me post and pre transplant.

muse900
I am thankful for being healthy and for others around me being healthy too so far.
roberson87
I am thankful for being born white.
arcboii92
Being born brown, I'm thankful for my white names that get me into interviews where I can prove I'm a good developer.
roberson87
Some of my non-white friends who haven't been blessed with forward-thinking parents such as yours, who give their children civilized names nonetheless use Western names on their resume when job seeking. So I don't think having a government 'white name' is all the beneficiary for job seeking purposes.
throwaway010718
Same here, legally changed my name at 10 years of age knowing that a whiter name would give me a better shot in life. One of the best decisions I made.
ryeguy_24
Being that we are close to New Year's resolution, maybe you can take a bit out of your 2020 year and pay it forward to some who don't have the opportunities that you've had. Then next year, come this time, they will be thankful for you and what you've done for them. Happy Thanksgiving.
s_Hogg
Thank you for posting this, I'm thankful for people who remind us to be thankful for what we've got.

This includes the protestors in Hong Kong reminding my countrymen of the value of democracy.

Five demands, not one less.

christiansakai
I won a green card lottery 3 years ago. I am still thankful to God to this day that I am blessed. Even though I kept getting rejected from FAANG I am still thankful.
cvaidya1986
Start your own startup.
christiansakai
Ah, I did 4 years ago, and it failed. I learned a lot from that process. But I realized that I am currently (5 years into my software engineering career) don't have the ideas and expertise (in terms of domain specific problems) or the funding. To start my own startup seems 10x harder than just doing leetcode and getting into FAANG.
27182818284
I hope this thread repeats each Thanksgiving on HN.
grad_ml
-I was laid off ~60 days back. Being on H1B( I'm an indian, who attended school here and been living here since last 10 years) means either I gotta get a job in 2 months or pack my bag. I got a better job and I'm gonna start working on this monday :) - Good physical health, decent mental health. Universe have been very kind to me. I wish this kindness persists and I could become better self of myself.

Happy thanksgiving to y'all!

cklemming
Congratulations to you. Well done bouncing back quickly!
rtpg
Great, it really sucks that people on work visas can basically be threatened with deportations by their employers like this because of all the ways unemployment can go wrong. Good look with the new job :)
baroffoos
It also sucks for locals because some corps will strongly preference people on work visas since they basically own the employees.
jhowell
Is it possible that at some point someone in your family tree was preferred for employment due to their immigration, or perhaps other status, which created opportunities that brought you to where you are today?
baroffoos
No, my ancestors were very likely somewhat involved in the violent takeover of Australia.
jhowell
Well, that as you say, sounds like it "sucks for locals" to be certain.
jgimenez
I don't think you want to work in a place like this. Maybe they're doing you a favor if you think of it
pinkfoot
Why? EVERY temporary work visa I have ever had has had a declaration section where I acknowledge that its temporary and in no way entitles me to residence. Its not a hidden suprise.
kingbirdy
Acknowledging that it sucks doesn't mean it doesn't suck. It's unfortunate for anyone to have such an unstable residency, where they could have to uproot their life back to the other side of the world with very little notice, on top of being laid off.
pinkfoot
Then why did they take the deal? When my gig ended, I ended the lease of my flat and went home.

What I didn’t do was bleat that I should be entitled to segue it into residence

farazbabar
In USA, H1B visa is a dual intent visa and implies a possible path to permanent residence and citizenship. This was shared with me by the immigration officer back in my country of origin (he was not interested in my ties to my country of origin and explained this when I asked why).
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WomanCanCode
I'm thankful for my family. And for not living in one of those mafia run country where you don't have any freedom of speech. I'm thankful not to have religion force on me. I'm thankful for having well stocked supermarkets so I can easily feed my family. I'm thankful that our police and sheriffs are not our enemy or used as a tool of suppression. I'm thankful that when our news organizations get disgusted with corruptions and wrong doing, they sometimes exposes the rich and powerful. I'm thankful for a fair judicial system where you are judged fairly. I'm thankful that good people exists in the world that still takes care of one another.
mrleinad
And you never said where you live
bpodgursky
Why does it matter? It's what s/he is thankful for.
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tobsmagoats
Thankful for my health, life may not be going my way at the moment but I know someone out there is just wishing they were just healthy for once.
sekasi
I'm thankful for having had people in my life that have given me opportunity when I frankly didn't deserve the opportunity. I'm very conscious to make sure that I pass that kindness on when it's appropriate.
RickJWagner
I'm thankful to live in the greatest time yet. I'm grateful for all the opportunities for myself and my family, and for the current social/political environment. (Historically, it is peaceful and prosperous.) I'm thankful for my family and friends. I'm thankful for everything I've been given.
xenyal
I'm thankful for the health of my family, and that of my extended one. I'm thankful for the support and care of my close friends, and I wish the best for them. I'm thankful for a flourishing career in my 20s, after having left university with mental health, and confidence issues that left me in the lowest point in my life, up to that point. I'm thankful that I made better choices that align way better with my sense of self, and what I truly want in this life. I'm also incredibly grateful for the mentorship I've been receiving along the way.
elcaminocomplex
To be reunited with the woman I married who had a mental health crisis and divorced me in the throes of it. She could have ended up dead or homeless but somehow managed to stay safe enough that when police intervened and called her family she was able to get the help and diagnosis she needed.

We’ve been back together for nearly two years now but it’s really sinking in now how close we all came to losing her permanently to death or ending up another nameless face on the streets.

cklemming
Wow. Really happy for the both of you.
gratalis
I'm grateful for countless things. Specific to this forum, I'm thankful for everyone who freely and graciously shares their time, knowledge and experiences.
jakebasile
I'm thankful for being raised by a great mother, father, and grandmother; and for finding a wonderful and supportive wife.

I'm thankful for living in the United States, where many of my inherent rights are as of now still not infringed.

I'm thankful for having the luck and predilection for being in the software industry, which has been good to me overall.

I'm thankful for Clojure, and the JVM, and all the other software I use to build my career on that has been given to me for free.

I'm thankful for the health I have despite mistakes made.

I'm thankful I still have life ahead of me.

boardwaalk
I'm thankful for being entirely healthy in U.S. And I'm thankful for having the income/savings/lack of baggage to have a lot of options in life -- regardless of whether or when I take them. I'm thankful that life hasn't been "eventful" unless I want it to be.