# 23

Thanksgiving is just days away. I have been thinking for weeks how I was going to be able to put together a list of things to be thankful for this Motivational Moment. I opened this morning’s paper, and there it was---an article by Dean Poling (dean.poling@gaflnews.com). Since September 11th, we have had attacks, anthrax, plane crashes, layoffs, and war. Yet, we continue to be the envy of every nation in the world.

25 REASONS TO GIVE THANKS*

1. Thanks to God for the chance to live.
   
2. Thanks for our families, even with the madness of the holiday get togethers, they are who we are, and we are them.
   
3. Thanks for our friends, the families we choose.
   
4. Thanks for life, with its ups and downs, its joyful and painful lessons of understanding and existence.
   
5. Thanks for our bodies that we may move and act, run and jump, play and make the visions of the mind's eye into reality.
   
6. Thanks for our minds with the ability to dream and reason and reflect upon our understanding of the world and ourselves.
   
7. Thanks for our souls which give us a flicker of life, animating the body and fueling the mind.
   
8. Thanks for tomorrow.
   
9. Thanks for our sight, both with eyes and minds, for a world of wonder.
   
10. Thanks for a sense of taste which makes eating a joy.
    
11. Thanks for the soldier who keeps our nation's liberties burning bright and free.
    
12. Thanks for the preacher who comforts our soul.
    
13. Thanks for the musician who eases our load and makes us dance, and the artist who adds dimension to our world.
    
14. Thanks for the working people who keep our world running.
    
15. Thanks for the child who brings us hope for the future when the world looks bleak.
    
16. Thanks for the courageous who save and redeem our souls, our minds, our hearts and our lives.
    
17. Thanks for the simple pleasures, from a breath of fresh air to the taste of good food to a moment of joy with someone we love.
    
18. Thanks for the understanding that we will not live in this world forever, so that we do not take our time here for granted.
    
19. Thanks for an imagination.
    
20. Thanks for humor and things that make us laugh.
    
21. Thanks for our failures, may we not forget them.
    
22. Thanks for our successes, may we keep them in perspective.
    
23. Thanks for the stars, our dreams so far away, but twinkling throughout the darkness.
    
24. Thanks for communication, which allows us to express ourselves to others.
    
25. Thanks for America and its freedoms and democracy, even when, especially when, it is threatened.

*Taken from "99 Reasons to Give Thanks", Dean Poling, Valdosta Times, Sunday, November 18, 2001.

Contact Tom at: tomhughes@motivationNmore.com

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