There is a common thread in everything I have read on how to improve your life, your outlook on life, and your success in life.  That thread is:

Give thanks and be appreciative for what you already have!

We work hard in our family to impress this on our children and ourselves every day. We are so wonderfully blessed to be here to begin with. As you add the truths that we have family that love us (in their own inimitable way), food on the table, a roof over our heads and our health – we are way ahead of the rest of the world!

Now we can be grateful for the extras in our lives. We are able to choose where we live, who we associate with, (and who we do not). We have access to libraries, health care, and recreational facilities. There are people paid to watch out and protect us, help is available for the asking, and people to maintain our environment.

There are those who work 24/7/365 to ensure we live in a country where we are free to speak our mind, go and live where ever we choose and enjoy all the other liberties granted by living in an advanced society. (I have been to places this was not so!)

I am blessed to have been able to freely choose my method of earning an income, for the most part doing the things that I am passionate about. Now more than ever, I enjoy a lifestyle and home environment few have the privilege to know.

I am thankful as well for my continuing education and experiences that make me aware of where I have been and where I am going – and how to get there.

Last but not least, I am thankful for you, for you are part of that present and future. You are part of my education, experience and environment. You are part of the reason I enjoy today and eagerly look forward to tomorrow.  Thank you.

As you talk this week with your family and friends, let them know how much they mean to you. Send a warm thank you to those who are not there – those you know and those you knew. I promise you they will get your message!