Wow...tough question.. 2015 is not a year I would enjoy repeating.. If I had to look back at this past year and list the things I'm thankful for, my first thoughts are. " it would be a short list".

but after thinking about it for a while, I begin to see things with better clarity, and without all that immediate superficial focus all the "bad things " that tend to want to take over our minds when ever we get a question like this one tossed at us. First let me state clearly that I "feel" I was unneccessarily abused by some people this year.. but then again, I'm sure we all feel that way at times. But I'm now grateful to those people for showing me that I had some serious flaws that needed attention.

Now was this abuse done with kindness?... no.. in fact it was done brutally and without honesty.

it was sinister, dark and malevolent. and devoid of any good intentions.

I had a huge task thrown at me and I did it without question. from Jan 13th to July 5th I was stepping an fetching

but, no one acknowledged that I stepped up and did it.

I was even told that I hadn't done it when all the evidence was starting at them in the face.

Then the lies started. I walked away from that trap. it was a no win scenario. Yet, had that not happened.. I would not have gotten to witness the coolest miracle I've ever seen.

53 guitars sold in less than 6 months... ( the ones in the video on my home page)

that doesn't happen in this business often.

So yeah I'm thankful for all the trouble I had this year.

I'm thankful that GOD didn't give up on me, I'm thankful that My friends didn't give up on me. I'm thankful that MANY people around me, gave me some needed leeway and the benefit of the doubt when they didn't have to.

I worked hard with what little I had in hand and did everything I could do, and when that wasn't enough.

Thank God that I had enough wits left in me to take the good opportunities when they were presented to me.. as there were a couple points there when I was not much more than a steaming blob of gelantinous green slime moving slowly around the shop. I dare say that ropes and rafters seemed comforting thoughts more than once.

Today, I'm not sure why things had seemed so dark, the only real problem was a lack of money. and last I heard, almost everyone shares that little problem.. the forces of evil want you to see things as much more dire than they really are. I learned to not allow that. I'm Thankful that my family is still around me, though we are spread out rather thinly at the moment, I believe things will get better soon. God can and still does grant miracles.

I'm thankful I still have a job, and that slowly but surely, God is helping me pay out of some rather monsterous debt. On the surface, most people would say that a lot of very bad things happened to me and my family this year.. but I have this suspicion that maybe, these bad events were required in order to achieve some very much needed "good" results. I even made a good friend out of one of those people. So this year I'm Thankful for the things that happen that may "appear" bad on the surface.. but may produce some awesome results.. and I'm thankful that I now have another truly unique chapter in my wonderfully strange life story.

Happy Thanksgiving folks and I wish everyone well.