Thankful - by Ankhita

Before I start off this post, I just wanted to take a moment to say that I have one of the greatest support systems in the world – I LOVE my family to pieces and I don’t know where I’d be without them! My family is my backbone and amazes me with their support every day. My friends are my sunshine and part of the reason for my humorous outlook on life. My heavenly Father is the reason I am the way I am and the everlasting fuel for my fire. I’m going to cut it off right there; the reason I’m not talking about my obvious reasons for thankfulness is because I could write an entire book about them. So I’m going to dedicate this blog post to the blessings everyone tends to overlook. So here you are: 

The Simple Undervalued Joys in Life that Deserve Some Acknowledgement

I’m a girl of simple pleasures. Pockets make me happy. I like walking barefoot on tar-based roads and the smell of leaves. Sometimes, I’ll take a very long roundabout walk back to the dorms, just because the clouds seemed extra puffy and I liked looking at them.

So, for my second blog post and in honor of November, I thought I’d make a list of things I’m thankful for – but I’m going to talk about the wonderful things that go unnoticed by the world on Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for…

1. Rap/Hip Hop. When I’m disappointed/upset/angry, do you think I’m going to listen to Taylor Swift? NO. That succeeds in bringing me down even further because then I feel depressed about her problems on top of being upset about my problems and the whole thing is just one big gloomy mess. Imma (yes, “Imma”, go ahead and judge) listen to some good old EMINEM or 50 CENT. Because that stuff gives me a sense of (no matter how false it might be) invincibility. Try it some time, you’ll be amazed at how much better it’ll make you feel.
2. EASY MAC. Without this processed cheesy goodness of “Enriched wheat flour, glycerol, etc.” I probably would have gone hungry many a time. Seriously, someone needs to give that entire company some sort of award. At one point this semester, I had consumed so much macaroni, that I’m pretty sure my entire body composition solely consisted of Kraft Mac’N’Cheese.
3. The existence of Narwhals. I mean, swimming unicorns. The collective level of happiness in the world should raise an entire level purely from this knowledge.
4. Ovens. Most people would say “food” or if you really want to get into specifics, “cookies” or “turkey”. But let’s be honest. If it weren’t for ovens, how would we even begin to try to cook food? And for those of you who are going to point out that the obviously the Pilgrims survived without ovens, let’s remember that the invention of cookies would not have been possible without the invention of the oven. Can you even begin to imagine trying to roast cookies on a spit? You have ovens to thank for this.
5. Febreeze. God bless the inventor of Febreeze.
6. Noses. They’re probably the most unappreciated body appendage. Can you imagine how strange we would look without them? You would just have one long expanse of skin between your eyes and mouth. Plus, you wouldn’t be able to smell things like cookies (Thank you again, Ovens) or Febreeze! Without noses, there would essentially be 7 billion Voldemorts walking around this planet.
7. Horror movies. Now let me clarify. I am NOT a horror movie person AT ALL. My floor made me sit through my first horror movie and I’ve seen two and a half since then (I say half because I covered my eyes and ears 45 minutes into my second one). I’m thankful for the existence of horror movies because it’s taught me to NEVER go anywhere by myself in the dark, especially if I’m feeling the slightest bit uneasy, because the first person to die is always that stupid person who decides it’s a good idea to wander off alone.
8. Gloves with the retractable fingers. I discovered these in the dollar section of Target last year and I was pretty much floored. My friends make/made of me because I refused to take them off and tried to see how much I could accomplish with these gloves. Hey, I have every right to be excited; they keep your hands SO WARM and you can get things done! Magic!

So there. You have at least 8 things that you can celebrate about this Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holiday! I’ll talk to you guys again in December.

Much Love,

Ankhita!

p.s. I had a friend of mine take some pictures of me so you can see what I look like now =) so there you go!

Ankhita Samuel is a first year medical student studying to earn a BLA major with a Spanish minor in the six year medical program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri. Originally from Olathe, Kansas, Ankhita was a participant in the Distinguished Young Women program and was selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Kansas for 2012. Learn more about Ankhita here!