Thank YOU.

Since when did it become acceptable to jump straight from slutty cat outfits to ugly christmas sweaters? Is it just me or has society turned Thanksgiving into another underrated holiday? I mean shit, even Starbucks already got rid of the Pumpkin spice latte to make way for the Peppermint mocha.

Sometimes I feel like it’s almost as if we look forward to the Wednesday night binge drinking and Friday morning shopping then actually spending the Thursday giving thanks.

(Ugh, I’m already dreading the thought of checking my Instagram news feed overflowing with #throwbackthursday pictures of what everyone is thankful for).

Sorry I’m not sorry for the beey-otch rant, but there is so much more to be thankful for on Thanksgiving than the typical “Family,” “Friends,” and “Love.” In my opinion those are things you should be thankful for every day of your life.

 We should be spending the day giving thanks to eating three plates of food and 2 weeks of bomb ass turkey sandwiches.

We should be spending the day giving thanks to ourself!

I may sound vain encouraging you to spend the most selfless day of the year giving thanks to your own awesomeness, but chances are you already have a Christmas tree in the living room. (So who is the vain one here?)

I’m not going to lie, I too have been listening to the occasional Mariah Carey holiday music and my heart skips a beat when I see the twinkling lights wrapped around every palm tree in Waikiki. But let me ask you an honest question, if November were just another random month out of the year would you even take the time to give thanks? Probably not. So why is it vain to be thanking yourself?

In my opinion, we don’t thank ourselves enough.

Today, I am thankful for me.

My strength, my drive, my ambition, my courage, my sarcasm, my passion for life, my voice and my confidence. I’m thankful for the love I have for myself because It has given me the power to conquer any challenge life throws my way. I made the decision to move to Hawaii, I pushed myself to cross a marathon finish line, and I was the one who confidently took the stage at the Miss Hawaii USA pageant.

I may seem like a selfish Thanksgiving Scrooge because I spend the holidays thousands of miles away from my family, but I believe it’s the ocean between us that has taught me to be thankful for them every-single-day.

(Plus, they encourage my selfishness which makes me even more thankful.)

So today, as you spend the evening with your loved ones getting drunk off of mashed potatoes and counting down the days until Christmas, remember to be thankful for you.

Look at where you are, and look at how far you’ve come. You are (insert name here) a beautiful, strong, courageous (man or woman) and only you are capable of creating a life to be thankful for every-single-day.

Amen.

Now lets eat.

Pass the mashed potatoes wine.

xx Fins & Kisses,

The Mermaid