We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery… ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, page 133

Life’s not designed to be drudgery,
not a series of tasks to get through.
Life is for giggling, for skipping,
for dancing, for happiness.
Thanksgiving is for giving thanks,
for gratitude, for serenity if not giddiness.
When we use special days to revert
to the ways we left behind
we find not freedom, not joy,
but the vale of tears we’ve left.
Thanksgiving should be a day
when our actions point forward
to the joy we desire,
not to what we left behind.
Live happy, joyous and free each day.