In tough times, they choose to be thankful

Christie Boyd and Nancy Kemp probably have little in common other than they live in relatively small cities on opposite ends of Georgia. That, and both women this week answered in a similar way to a simple question: “How can you give ‘thanks’ in thankless times?”

Their answer is simple. Boyd and Kemp choose to be thankful.

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Family photo

This year, because of bad economy, Christie and Freddy Boyd (here with daughter Nichole, dog Lexi and cat Natascha) will forgo celebrating their anniversary at an expensive Buckhead hotel.

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“Life’s too short to get bent out of shape over petty things,” said Kemp, a 58-year-old schoolteacher from Cairo. “Like my daddy used to say, ‘Sometimes you’ve got to haul off and be happy.”

Boyd and Kemp responded to a Thanksgiving blog posted on ajc.com. Most who responded expressed gratitude for their families and their homes even as they faced difficult personal problems. Boyd and Kemp were among those who responded most positively.

One respondent wrote, “even though I was recently laid off, I’m thankful for my family, a roof over my head, having a future in front of me.”

Another writer stated, “my husband is out of work, but I’m thankful every day that I have my job and we still have our house. We’ve cut back on a lot of material things, but we have what we need.”

Boyd believes “it’s a conscious choice on whether you’re going to have a good outlook or a sad outlook,” she said. “And I just try to be positive all the time.”

Boyd, who says she grew up in a poor family, promises to remain positive despite the foundering economy. And now, at age 51, she’s enrolled at Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome to become a vascular technologist.

Both women face situations they could fret about. It’s the second time in 27 years of Boyd’s marriage that she and her husband Freddy will celebrate their anniversary on Thanksgiving Day.

But because of the economy, the Boyds will forgo their annual ritual of splurging on a $1,000 to $1,500 weekend stay at a Buckhead hotel.

Kemp’s thinking about postponing her retirement in 2009 for another year because of the economy. Her youngest daughter and her husband, who live in Murphrysboro, Tenn. don’t have health insurance. Kemp said she recently bought a van for her son-in-law, who plays in a rock band.

“In spite of worrying about them, I think I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very, very long time,” said Kemp. “I’m learning really to appreciate things that other folks take for granted.

“I wake up in the dark every morning,” said Kemp. “But when I walk out on my porch, I see stars.”

Is happiness all a matter of perspective? Can one consciously choose to be happy?

“Absolutely,” said Paula Bloom, a clinical psychologist and contributor to CNN Espanol. “We all have a hypothesis for how we see the world, and we look for data to support it.

“If you think the world is a crappy place and that people can’t be trusted you will always look for it and find things that strengthens that belief,” Bloom said. But if you think the world is a good place, a safe place and that people are inherently good, you can look for data to support that as well.”

“You must decide daily if the world is good or hostile,” said Bloom, quoting Albert Einstein.

Boyd says she’s managed to maintain a positive attitude despite enduring personal tragedies such as spending 18 months caring for her terminally ill brother and moving into a motor home when her husband lost his job.

The current economic crisis is no different, she said.

“It is what it is,” Boyd said. “Everybody’s 401k is in the trash. We just hope we can live and work long enough to fill it back up.

“Maybe it’ll get better again,” Boyd said. “It has to get better again.”