What Do You Have To Be Thankful For?

Sometimes it’s easy to overlook all the things that bless our lives. I mean, we’re suffering through the worst recession in decades. Unemployment has reached double digits. And we have troops abroad fighting a war. All of these things have either affected you directly or indirectly. Maybe you or someone close to you is currently unemployed. It may be that a loved one is a member of the armed forces and is defending our country. Things could be better.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. Things could be a lot worse, too. It’s always important to stop and reflect about what we have in our lives to be thankful for. It’s great to train yourself to do this frequently, but each year as our country celebrates Thanksgiving, we have the opportunity to step back from our day-to-day activities and consider how we’ve been blessed.

In fact, I challenge you to sit down right now and list 10 things that you are thankful for in your life (my list is below). My hope is that most people can rattle off 10 things that they truly appreciate in their lives in a matter of seconds. Certainly we all have 10 things we can put on a list that are worthy of thanks. Family and friends jump to mind immediately. Your health, your job, and your home should make the list. What about food on the table and clothes on your back? We should be thankful for both. Yes, 10 items that you’re truly thankful for is an easy task.

Now add 10 more. C’mon you can do it. (I did! See it below.) Think of some of the simple pleasures of life. Consider the smell of freshly brewed coffee or an apple tree in bloom. How about the look of innocence on the face of a sleeping child or the sight of a puppy with a waggin’ tail? What about the smell of newly mowed grass or the colorful montage that the leaves make as they change in the fall?

Our society is moving so fast anymore that we overlook the wonderful things that bless our lives. We’re driving from place to place with a cell phone or Bluetooth stuck in our ear, slowing down just long enough to grab a meal handed to us through a drive-thru window. We’re tweeting on Twitter, chatting on Facebook, and texting on our cell phones. It seems that the whole world is moving at warp speed.

You need to stop and smell the roses. And then you really need to appreciate them.

Now you have your list of 20 items. Here’s what I want you to do: I want you to tell every person on your list that you’re thankful that they’re a part of your life. Now for the other items on your list: I want you to share what you’re truly thankful for with others. When you pick up that cup of coffee in the morning that you love so much, tell the person who served it to you how much joy that dark brown liquid brings you. When you see, hear, or smell something that you enjoy, tell someone about it. Share your pleasures with those around you and let them know how much you appreciate it. Just try it for the next week.

Why?

Because I think it will bring you joy. And it will bring those around you joy as they share in those things that you love. Your enthusiasm and appreciation for even the simplest of pleasures will be contagious. It will move you from focusing on the bad to thinking about all the good in your life.

I always tell my children that there are two types of people in this world. There are “glass half empty” and “glass half full” people. I encourage my kids to be “glass half full” people every day. I want to encourage you to be the same. Every single one of us has many things in our life that we can be thankful for. This year I want you to stop and consider what they are. Then I want you to keep on doing it every day. Pretty soon it will be a habit that will change how you experience life.

Have a wonderful THANKSgiving!

10 Things I’m Thankful For:

1. My faith
2. My wife
3. My kids (Tyler, Alycia and Brayden)
4. Great friends and family
5. My health and that of my family
6. A job that I love
7. Fantastic colleagues with whom to work
8. That I live in the greatest country
9. Roof over my head
10. Food on the table

10 More Things I’m Thankful For:

1. The feeling I get on Opening Day every spring as the baseball season starts anew  (as a Cubs fan, spring is usually better than fall)
2. Watching my kids as they open gifts on their birthdays
3. Fall. It’s my favorite season with the leaves changing and the crispness in the air
4. The taste of a cold beer on a hot summer day
5. Vanilla ice cream
6. Exercise
7. A really good book
8. The Internet
9. Air travel (It beats driving 10 hours with three kids and two dogs!)
10. Eight hours of uninterrupted sleep