Psoriasis Thankful: A Happy Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again. Time for the holidays. For most of us, it means packing on extra weight as we eat all the good food and desserts the holidays bring equipped with the promise that right afterward we will go on a diet.

Psoriasis & thanksgiving

First up is Thanksgiving. I must confess, that to me, Thanksgiving seems to have become a not so much celebrated holiday. It doesn't bring the retail stores big money as Halloween and Christmas do. With that being said, I still think Thanksgiving needs to be celebrated especially for us psoriatics.

After all, it is time to give thanks. It might be hard but there is always something you can be thankful for, even if it has been a rough year due to psoriasis. You just have to put your mind to it that you are going to find something to be thankful for no matter what.

It's hard to be thankful

Thankful? Psoriasis? I understand because I used to feel that way too. How can I be thankful when I look so hideous? What is there to be thankful for when your family or spouse does not understand what you are going through? I don't dare go to someone's house to eat when I leave flakes everywhere I sit.

I do not want to have to explain about my psoriasis yet again to family and friends. I just know they are going to ask. What if someone says something about my psoriasis while we are trying to eat? What if someone doesn't want to sit beside me because of my plaques?

Being unthankful

When you think nothing but negative thoughts all day, it will start dictating your behavior every day. Nothing is pleasant anymore. This is one of the hardest lessons I learned with having psoriasis. I will never forget a wonderful lady that I had the privilege of working for as a private housekeeper.

She told me one day that I was the most negative person she knew. She went on to say that I never had anything good to say. I'm not going to lie at first, it made me mad. It wasn't until I really started thinking about what she was saying that I realized she was telling the truth.

Find ways to be thankful

After that interaction, I found my reasons to be thankful, even for small things. Yes, it is hard to have psoriasis. We do not have to let it dictate that there is nothing to be thankful for.

With a new granddaughter on the way, I am thankful I am here at my son's and daughter-in-law's house to see her beautiful face when she is born. I am thankful I have a wonderful husband who is my biggest supporter. Most importantly I am thankful for my psoriasis family who means the world to me.

What Are You Thankful For?

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I urge you to find what you are thankful for. I want to challenge each of you reading this to find at least one thing. It doesn't matter how small. It matters only that you find at least one.

I guarantee you that if you think about it hard enough it is possible. It is my hope that you find more than just one but if you are struggling, then one is a start. It has to start somewhere.

I left the best thing I am thankful for till the end of this article. Can you guess what it might be? I am most thankful for you. Thankful that you spent the time to read this. Thankful that although I do not know each of you personally you are still a part of my psoriasis family. I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving filled with all the good things in life.