Being Thankful

The world is full of people who literally have nothing. They have no shelter, little clothing, little to no food, and no clean water. Their lifespan is shorter, and they must rely almost completely on nature for all the basic needs. If a natural disaster hits their area things quickly become even worse.

We live in a very rich society where even the poorest people have much more than what others around the world will ever have during their entire life. Once a year at Thanksgiving we are reminded to be thankful. But we should be thankful all year long for many things including our family and friends, good health, happiness, doing okay financially, having shelter, always having enough food and clean water to drink, having clothes that fit, having warm coats and blankets for cold winter days, having cool clothing to wear on hot summer days, and living in great country where we have freedom.

Besides the basics, we can also be thankful for things like the Internet, computers, and cell phones. Being alive right now during the Internet age is another thing to be thankful for. We have fast and easy access to tons of wonderful information that our ancestors never could have learned during their entire lifespan by reading books.

The majority of the best things in life cannot be bought at a store. Some of my favorite quotes illustrate the most important things in life:

"Beauty, truth, friendship, love, creation - these are the great values of life. We can't prove them, or explain them, yet they are the most stable things in our lives." - Jesse Herman Holmes

"The best portion of a good man's life are the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." - William Wordsworth

"We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic." - E. Merrill Root

Be thankful for all the good things in your life throughout the entire year, and try to really appreciate everything at least once a week. If possible, give some assistance to people in other countries who need the most help. There are wonderful non-profit organizations who accept donations along with sending volunteers to certain areas of the world in attempt to make their lives a little better. The simplest basic items we take for granted can greatly improve the life of someone who has nothing.