Picture depicted: me.
Also currently exiled from the kitchens: me.
Time to be helpful! Time to write to the regulars! Yeah!
Aw, cripes, what do I say? It’s like all the good stuff has already been said already. Be thankful! Be independent? Eat lots of good food and be merry? Enjoy your time with family?
Ooh okay I got it! Heheh! Okay. This is Zuikaku, rebel crane of STEC! Since everyone’s out and about today, I thought I’d say something on behalf of everyone. You’ve got plenty of advice about what you should do, but do you ever think about why?
Why be thankful? Why be happy?
“The best is yet to come, so live your best life!”
My life was pretty miserable just a short while ago. Personal issues aside, the NKT had a warrant out for my disposal, my sister was mysteriously missing, and Japan came this (gestures with fingers) close to literally sinking beneath the waves. So I ran headfirst into STEC’s observatory off the coasts of Japan, not realizing how much of a diplomatic fiasco it was.
Throughout it all, Mike and the others stood up for me. They gave me a safe refuge, a shoulder to lean on, and more importantly, home. “Don’t worry, the best is yet to come” was something Mike said to me often. Can you believe the nerve, telling Japan’s number one cynic shipgirl to be a little positive?
…
Hey, I don’t like to admit it. But yeah, there’s something true about it’s your life, and how you choose to live it. The world’s often a chaotic place, swirling with negativity and evil. It’s like looking into the maws of the Abyssal fleet and wondering what can I do about it, I’m so small and insignificant.
Pause and think. Isn’t the answer obvious? This negativity and chaos is not right. It’s not what life should be. If there are so many people fighting over wealth and influence and power, is it really so outrageous to think that there’s something out there fighting to rob you of your soul – your identity, your sense of self?
Whatever it is, it’s trying to steal from you your peace of mind. Fight it! Defy it! We’ve all only got one shot at life, so why the hell should we succumb to this negativity?
No matter what the world is like, every time we’re thankful for the big and small things in life, every time we feel the preciousness of our connections, every time we humble ourselves (shut up! Zuizui is capable of self-reflection too!) before righteousness, these are all ways in which we can make a stand – for us, and for what is right.
When I was down, Mike came to me. He looked at me in the eye and said, “the best is yet to come” and offered me a hand. I watched as one man’s relentless optimism rallies one after the other, and I realized that there was a great truth in the fact that we’re all individually responsible – for ourselves and for others.
The best is indeed yet to come.
Flash that smile. Hoist that flag. Toss a turkey at Zuizui. Let your spirit shine through!
Remember that you aren’t alone.
You’ll never be alone.
Happy Thanksgiving!