Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

[wallflower]

Thanks dang and team for taking care of the HN community!

Many years ago, I stumbled upon HN. I just lurked. Then one day I posted a comment.

I am thankful for HN because many years ago it provided a community for someone who was desperately seeking social interaction during my very boring corporate job workday. It was my water cooler. It still is even though as it has grown in popularity, it is almost like a meme for some people to say 'Don't read HN' because they maybe read one divisive thread once or only read divisive threads and thus see it as a monoculture...

[askafriend]

1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it.

2. I can go home to my parent's house whenever I want and I'm lucky to have supportive, loving parents and an extended family that openly supports me when I need it. We have our problems, but at the end of the day - I have a place to stay and food to eat even in my darkest moments.

3. A promising career in Silicon Valley and a great manager with whom I share a deep sense of mutual respect and friendship with. I know how rare this is, and because of that - I'm thankful.

A lot of work went into making this happen from a lot of different people over the years...so I'm actually really deeply thankful because this could have played out very differently.

Growing up, my family was lower-middle class, immigrant, and moved around _a lot_ because of instability in finances and my father's job was so uncertain that it could be axed on short notice among other reasons. I was a child for the early parts of the journey so only my parents can speak to the brutal pain of trying to start over in a brand new country that barely accepted them for who they are along with the burden of raising their first child. Not only that, but they started over with few resources - maybe the clothes on their back, a couple hundred bucks in their pocket and a few phone numbers to call if they were really in trouble. They/We did not have it easy by any stretch of the imagination and my parents themselves come from relative poverty where things like access to food, electricity, clean water and education was a real issue. We've come a long way and I'm both proud and thankful for that.

This only scratches the surface of the immigrant experience in America but I think it's highly relevant, especially during Thanksgiving and all the history imbued in the holiday.

[code_duck]

I would suggest adding something to your first one: you can successfully eat whatever you purchase.

I have celiac and serious food allergies, as well as an esophageal disorder. I also can’t digest milk or eggs properly. When I go to the grocery store, I walk around pretty much laughing to myself about how I literally cannot eat almost anything there. For Thanksgiving, I am having plain beef roast in a blender (well, sea salt) and specific potato chips. And cider - I mean, it’s not all bad.

It’s easy to take health for granted, but it’s amazing how much it can screw up your life when one part of your body isn’t working.

[hellosputnik]

I have a similar story to you. My parents came from Vietnam with nothing, knowing no English, and had to eat from trash at the beginning of their journey. Despite the difficulties and with a lot of help from some generous people, I am now financial secure, have familial support, and have a sense of belongingness/purpose with a great team at work. As the first in my family to graduate college (and even high school), there's really not a day where I don't feel happy and grateful that I am where I am today. It's that thankfulness that allows me to shrug off any bad things that happen.

[notyouravgdoge]

This post resonated with me.

I'm in my mid-20s and just a few years ago I would memorize grocery prices and track the value of the items I had in my shopping cart. Chicken breast at $2.99 per pound compared to beef flank at $8.99 per pound...I guess I'm eating chicken. Yellow onions for 79 cents each...since the store isn't charging by the pound, I'll dig through the onions and find the largest one.

These days I can spend the occasional $15 on a cocktail or $40 on a meal without thinking twice. I believe growing up in a lower income family gives me a greater appreciation for what I have now. Happy Thanksgiving!

Edit: Most importantly, I'm grateful for my (immigrant) parents' hard work and the sacrifices they made to provide me with the opportunities I have today.

[5555624]

> 1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it.

I was thinking about this earlier in the week. I can remember when I couldn't do this. I'd have to keep a running total of what I put in the basket/cart. I was living pay check to pay check. I had debt. Now, with my mortgage as my only debt, things are so much better.

I wish I knew, years ago, what I know now. I'm thankful I've finally figured (some of) it out.

[fenwick67]

re #1, if you're ever at an ATM, look at the receipts in the trash. You'll see receipts with balances under $20. It's very eye-opening.

[abdussamit]

Growing up, I used to disagree with how my parents used to think about things, and I also used to call them out (maybe I kept that in my heart mostly out of respect) whenever they did something wrong. That was because I never perhaps knew how some parents were?

Because as I grew, went to high-school and then at job, I saw people who had an abusive father, a drug-addict sibling, or a controlling mother. And now, I realise how difficult it must have been for my parents to show us the best version of themselves e.g. my mother cooks food, takes care of us and my father worked in Libya for 30 years as a software engineer away from us only to supply us financially. It must never have been easy.

I'm not saying they're perfect, God no one is. But the fact that I can see at my parents as a moral compass for myself whenever I get stuck helps me a lot. Some of you who read might not be religious but I'm thankful that my parents gave us the right knowledge of religion and not just giving knowledge but telling us about the 'why'.

My father has told me two things his entire life: 1. do your best effort at opportunities (I don't mind if you fail as long as you work hard) 2. don't cheat your way to success

So, yeah, I'm sorry if this seems irrelevant but just wanted to share my side of the story about why I'm thankful.

[dbancajas]

yeah man. I am a parent right now and I can't even think of leaving my kids to work in another country full time w/o my family.

[superasn]

I'm thankful for getting cured of my chronic back pain of 10+ years just because of one HN comment (1). I was at a point in my life where my whole life used to revolve around my pain but thanks to this one comment I was cured of this terrible misery in just less than a month. So thank you HN and thank you @ceras for making my life so much better.

P.S I'm happy to say that propogating that knowledge had that exact same effect for another HNer who was also suffering from the same fate (actually he was contemplating suicide by his own comment and he too was healed like me(2).

(1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17899799

(2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18151061

[mikekchar]

Very interesting. For about the past 2 years, I've been suffering from mysterious symptoms that seem to have no physical origin. My doctors have suggested that it's "in my head" or "stress related illness" and I'm completely open to that idea (in fact I welcome it). However, the biggest problem I've had is, "Where the heck do I go from there?" If it's all in my head, how do I get it out of my head?

I'm definitely going to give this book a read. I am thankful for your suggestion :-)

P.S. I hesitate to mention this, but my wife belongs to some weird religious group here in Japan. They believe in spiritual healing. For this kind of problem it seems really ideal. Unfortunately for me, it's completely ineffective because I just can't take it seriously. She's always frustrated because she can't heal my problems, even though I should be an ideal candidate. Going through the problems I've had has completely changed my attitude toward the potential benefits so called spiritual things. On the one hand I have doctors saying, "It's all in your head, so you can't be cured" and on the other I get "It's all in your head, so praise the divine being and all will be cured". It would be tempting if I could ever stomach that kind of thing.

[Sammi]

I am so thankful that I came across a comment about Sarno's book here on hn! I had tried sooooo many things. I was frequenly getting completely locked up in my back - it was all just a tight ball of pain. Then Sarno told me it was because I was manifesting repressed emotions in my body, and b-i-n-g-o. As soon as I started asking myself "What's bothering me?", "What am I upset about", and gave myself time and permission to actual feel those emotions, I could feel the knot melt away.

[reasonablemann]

Sarno's book should be added to those lists of best programming books. Along with "Say Good Night to Insomnia".

Back pain + insomnia both cured within days of reading each of these. Thankfully I only suffered a few weeks of each before getting my hands on these books.

[tejaswiy]

I have to say, every time I come across this book, it seems like bullshit not backed by any science at all and yet it gets rave reviews on HN. As a one-time thing, I can put it off towards some propaganda campaign ala Tim Ferris / The four hour body but this is a pattern. Don't know what to make of it really.

[nemo1618]

I'm thankful for my parents. Growing up, I thought that my parents were needlessly strict and uncool and that all my friends had it better than me. Only once I was old enough to look at other parents from an adult perspective did I realize how...well, competent my own parents had been, compared to most. Turns out there are a lot of ways to screw up parenting. Many of my friends' parents divorced, others just quietly resented each other; some were too permissive, others were "helicopters;" some were too distant, others tried to be their kid's best friend; and of course, some were outright abusive. The older I get, the clearer it is to me that these parents were just "older teenagers," not true adults. In that regard, my parents really had their shit together (and still do), and I benefited from that enormously. Thanks mom and dad.

[martinot56]

Did you get to tell them that?

[Daido_M]

I am thankful for Hacker News. Never before have I come across a community that is as insightful, friendly, and helpful. Thank you, everyone, for making Hacker News the place it is today.

[TulliusCicero]

Agreed, and they have very strict modding to thank for it. Sometimes I think it's too strict, but you can't argue with the results.

[mindcrime]

1. Just being alive, for starters. Just a hair over four years ago I had a heart attack[1] and very easily could have died.

2. My parents, and friends and family. Guess that one is so obvious as to not really need to be said, but just to be complete.

3. All the amazing knowledge that's available, mostly for free, on the Internet. Youtube, videolectures.net, arxiv.org, khan academy, HN, Wikipedia, sci-hub, ligben, and so many other great resources for learning.

4. Open source and all the various OSS contributors out there.

5. Coffee, key-lime pie, and cheesecake.

6. Thai food.

7. Heavy metal. Especially the first "wave" of bands that sucked me in all those years ago: Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, AC/DC, Quiet Riot, etc.

8. All of my brothers and sisters in the fire-service, all over the world, who are out there putting their lives on the line to protect others. I'm not active with a fire department these days, but it's a brotherhood you never really quit.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8550315

[yesbabyyes]

Coming on two years ago, I celebrated New Years Eve in the amazingly beautiful beach town of Robertsport, Liberia. I never used to do those vows, but at this time I decided I wanted to be more grateful. So I vowed to be more grateful. This English bloke was there with me, and he reminded me that if I just vowed it like that, I would soon forget it. I had to somehow make it my habit.

So I decided every morning when I put on my necklace I would remind myself to be grateful for something this day. And I have, every single day! Usually, I will be grateful that I am healthy, that I have a wife who cares about, and for, me, family members, some good friends, a job and good food every day.

Today, I am grateful to George, the Englishman, who helped me start this habit. It is very good to be grateful.

[russellhealy]

I am so thankful that I know the meaning of my human life. I have a human spirit, which I can exercise to contact God. I don't know how I would live without this. All of the money and all of the experiences on earth are temporary, and in the end meaningless. Anything temporary compared to eternity is meaningless. Eternity is not only before us in time, but God has put eternity in our heart, and only God can fill that gap. I'm so thankful that my God-shaped gap is filled. Not preaching, just genuinely thankful!

[badcede]

Eternity is now.

[clubm8]

Wikipedia. So often I get curious about something and it's documented in detail, with hyperlinks to related concepts. What would have taken an afternoon at the library in the 90s I can get in a 20 minute Wikpedia binge.

[zentiggr]

I am thankful that something distracted me in the few seconds it took me to start making a left turn, and slowed me down enough that the semi that ran the red light missed my car by a couple of feet instead of ripping the car apart and killing me Monday afternoon. I'm trying not to be cliche about it, but my priorities are a bit clearer now.

[smudgymcscmudge]

I’m thankful for automotive safety that saved my daughter’s life when she ran into a traffic light pole at 60MPH yesterday. I’m replying to your comment because her accident was caused by somebody turning left a second or two too early.

My girl was driving a Kia Soul. It’s not an expensive car, but it’s still safe enough that she and her passenger will only experience a week or two of soreness. If I had the same accident in my first car, a 77 Corolla,I would probably have died.

[spiderfarmer]

With regards to HN: I'm thankful for HN being an example where the comments are often really insightful, useful and interesting. There are so many places on the internet where the comment sections are cesspools. HN makes an effort to be different and it's working.

On a more personal level: I'm thankful for having had the opportunities in life to achieve all my goals. For being born in a safe and stable country with great healthcare (could have been dead a couple of times now) and other social securities. For being married to a great wife who makes me happy and who makes marriage seem almost effortless. And most of all I'm thankful for my kids. They truly made my life complete.

[AnimalMuppet]

Cateract surgery.

I watched myself slowly going blind over several months. But at the end of it, whenever I chose, I could say, "That's enough - time for surgery" instead of just being blind for the rest of my life.

Seeing is really cool, people. It's a really major deal. Once you think about what it means to not have it, you really value having it.

Walking is a big deal, too. I'm thankful that my boss left that dolly where it could just barely catch the edge of that falling box with 600 pounds of steel in it, so that it didn't absolutely crush my foot. (It tore through the cardboard, slowly, so it landed on my foot as a slowly increasing load instead of as a sudden jolt. That was plenty painful enough, but it didn't crush all the bones in the arch of my foot.)

Walking, again - that falling 30 feet off a cliff didn't cripple me or kill me.00

[codetrotter]

I typed out a long comment but it is not yet the time to say so much.

I am starting to see paths unfold that I would not have thought possible ten years ago when I was first introduced to HN by some fellow members of a student union I was in.

These past ten years of my life have been a mixture of a lot of things. Failures, despair, depression, but also successes, personal growth and learning.

For now I just want to say that spending a lot of time on HN is a double-edged sword, and I've seen both sides - it can be a time sink, as it has been for me at times, unhealthy even, but it is also an amazing place, and one that I am so, so happy that I was told of and that I decided to stick around on.

And in case it wasn't abundantly clear - these paths that seem to be unfolding are in very very large part thanks to knowledge and awareness that I have gained from the posts and discussions that I read on HN and spent my time on.

[throwaway98121]

I grew up in poverty. As a kid, I had potato chips for breakfast if I ate at all and remember being hungry most mornings at school.

I just got my second promotion at a FAANG in three years. I have great work life balance. I can afford to buy food and more. I invest and max out my 401k and my older sibling is now in her final year of her residency and my younger sibling is almost done with bachelors. My spouse loves me. I was very sick this thanksgiving and it was nice to be taken care of. I still have anxiety and confidence issues, and I’m terribly afraid of risk... but it’s gotten substantially better than a few years ago.

[davidscolgan]

I'm thankful for my city. I finally moved to Chicago from from rural Indiana and I feel like I've finally found where I belong.

I'm thankful for my mental health therapist who has helped me greatly in dealing with relationship issues and mental health problems in general.

I'm thankful for my business coach, who got me out of a rut in my freelance career and introduced me to a whole new world of effectiveness.

I'm thankful for a comment a friend made the other day. He knew me about 5 years ago when I was playing around with livestreaming on Twitch.tv. Yesterday he and I were video calling and he commented that "you've really become a lot more poised and confident in front of the camera and your speech is a lot smoother." I've wondered if I really am making progress on social anxiety and that was really encouraging.

[waterhouse]

Last Sunday, I dropped my wallet on the ground. By Monday, I was starting to look into cancelling credit and debit cards, and what I'd do without a driver's license... and then it turned out a "Mr. Diaz" who drives a garbage truck found it, called the numbers he saw in it, and established contact with me. I got it back in time for work; nothing was missing, and he refused to even take money when I offered it to him.

It's a very nice data point.

[james_s_tayler]

I'm thankful I don't have to walk hours every day to collect dirty water just to survive.

I'm thankful I have the opportunity to help solve the problem.

https://youtu.be/XLdDMDkwK1s

[the_jeremy]

I am thankful for my new job. After graduating, I worked at a defense contractor for over a year and got tasked with basically nothing and had no one care about results, staying current, or learning, and I felt it. They kept saying things would change when I got my security clearance, but as I talked to more and people, I realized that it wouldn't be enough of a change, so I switched industries. In my new role, I am learning a ton (because they decided to hire me even though I didn't have the knowledge they originally wanted) and I am loving it. My team is super helpful and I'm reminded why I first enjoyed programming and problem solving.

[popcorncolonel]

That's great! It feels so good to be doing something you want to do.

[Walkman]

Python. It changed my life significantly. I have a job I love, I earn good money. Not sure I could have reached what I did under a couple of years with other languages, because Python let me focus on learning all kind of things beside it, because it was fairly easy to pick up.

[diegoperini]

Today, a random person (actually two people) from some random country saved my career and financial security. I'm thankful for that.

[parf02]

would be curious to hear more details of this story haha