What are you thankful for?

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

I am thankful for all my blessings. Plenty of good food to eat, a roof over my head, beautiful land I get to enjoy every day, and my lovely wife. And 62 degrees, on Thanksgiving, in NE Ohio? Get the fug outta here.

:2dance:

Dittohead not! said:

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

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Its been a good year, good job, paid off over 20% of my mortgage, met a great lady and have a fun relationship. Thankful that I was able to do all that in the last year.

Dittohead not! said:

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

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I'll go with that.

That I'm here with what is family, no matter what anyone else would call it.

That I had the luxury of spending much of the year rebuilding and taking care of myself, which really needed to happen after the horror show of 2014.

That I'm meeting wonderful people that are enriching my life already.

That dreams don't die; they just get reborn.

That writing's coming back to me.

That sadness isn't.

That I have a warm kitty and a warm bed and good food.

All kinds of stuff.

I entered the year so many different kinds of beat up I didn't even know where to begin. I'm leaving it happier and more myself than I can remember being in many years, and with better company too -- something I never thought would be true for me again.

Everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. That, and being able to moan about attempting to cook a turkey. I think we'll end up ordering take out.

I'm thankful for argumentative people. They teach me how to spot dirty rotten tricks and traps that they love to use, and they teach me about decency, integrity, and honesty.

G

Dittohead not! said:

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

Click to expand...

Life is good.

Pretty good health for me, family and friends, a wonderful man by my side, living better than probably 99.9% of all the people on the planet who've ever lived, a faithful dog, couple of kitty cats who call me servant. What's not to like?

Health, wealth, family, friends, adversities, Triumphs, pleasures, pains...

Thanks be given for life and all it encompasses...

Thankful for being granted vacation :mrgreen:

FOR BARAK OBAMA :mrgreen:

for a kid I want to have

Dittohead not! said:

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

Click to expand...

Cicero once said that "gratitude is the greatest of all virtues, and the parent of all the other virtues." He's right. Think about it. I've found that the more grateful one is for everything, even for the little things, the happier one is. Happiness without gratitude is not happiness...and I'm a happy camper indeed!

I'm thankful that I'm in the Church of Christ.

I'm thankful that I have such a wonderful marriage - even after more than 23 years we're still like newlyweds...to the point that the best wish I can give for newly-married couples is that they have a marriage as happy as mine. Yeah, we fight every once in a great while...but in all our time together, we've never once fought over money. I used to think I was smart...until I got married to her - she's the smartest, wisest, most loving person I've ever known. I don't brag much, but I'll brag on my marriage and especially on my Darling all day long.

I'm thankful that my sons are both good men, not disrespectful, but not afraid to speak up when there's a need to do so. I'm thankful that they're both healthy and intelligent. And we're all here for Thanksgiving brunch (because at dinner time, it's time to go to Church).

I'm thankful that even though I have no more close blood relatives of my own (other than my youngest son), my wife's family has accepted me as part of their own. I think that only those who've lost their entire families can understand the depth of my gratitude for this...and why the thought of growing old alone without any family is so terrifying.

I'm thankful that I was able to have a full career in the Navy, that I'm able to provide for my family and especially for my Darling. I'm equally grateful for having had the opportunity to travel the world, to see so many different places that most Americans know only by what they see on screens or in books or magazines. I'm grateful for having so much of my ignorance of the world erased, replaced with understanding and appreciation of other peoples, other cultures...particularly in the light of having been raised as a racist.

I'm very thankful that I've been able to help so many other people. I've never asked for their gratitude (for gratitude not volunteered is not gratitude at all), but only hope that they all pay it forward, as I've tried to pay forward all the help I've been given in the past.

There is so much more for which I am deeply grateful, but I figure that to most readers, the above's long past the point of sappiness. Just remember that the path to real happiness is gratitude...gratitude for all things, even the little things!

Medusa said:

for a kid I want to have

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Just a note of support in your diplomatic row with Russia. They'd been flying over Turkish soil for weeks and ignored the protests and warnings by the Turkish government. I guess this is what it takes to get their attention.

Glen Contrarian said:

Just a note of support in your diplomatic row with Russia. They'd been flying over Turkish soil for weeks and ignored the protests and warnings by the Turkish government. I guess this is what it takes to get their attention.

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thank you for your honesty!

dani67 said:

FOR BARAK OBAMA :mrgreen:

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I do not know if you're actually from Iran, but I do know that as history marches on, President Obama will be seen as one of our very best presidents. I know, I know, there's a lot of people who gag at the very thought...but the facts and the numbers are irrefutable, and can only be denied by those who are determined to ignore the facts and the numbers.

countryboy said:

I am thankful for all my blessings. Plenty of good food to eat, a roof over my head, beautiful land I get to enjoy every day, and my lovely wife. And 62 degrees, on Thanksgiving, in NE Ohio? Get the fug outta here.

:2dance:

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Remember, there's no such thing as global warming, or if there is global warming, it must be from something, ANYthing other than burning fossil fuels. But as to the rest of your post, I'll raise a glass of egg nog in hearty agreement!

for lebroan james
for Stephen Curry

SmokeAndMirrors said:

That I'm here with what is family, no matter what anyone else would call it.

That I had the luxury of spending much of the year rebuilding and taking care of myself, which really needed to happen after the horror show of 2014.

That I'm meeting wonderful people that are enriching my life already.

That dreams don't die; they just get reborn.

That writing's coming back to me.

That sadness isn't.

That I have a warm kitty and a warm bed and good food.

All kinds of stuff.

I entered the year so many different kinds of beat up I didn't even know where to begin. I'm leaving it happier and more myself than I can remember being in many years, and with better company too -- something I never thought would be true for me again.

Click to expand...

You're a writer - you can't help but write. Take away your keyboard, and you'll use an old typewriter or pen and paper...but you must write. If it sells, great...but you cannot ignore the creative imperative! And you dread the day that you're too old to write, when they take away your keyboard, just as they took away the paint brushes from Grandma Moses when she got too old to paint.

Asimov once said that if he knew that he only had a little while left to live, he'd just write more and faster. I think you and I both understand what he meant.

Glen Contrarian said:

You're a writer - you can't help but write. Take away your keyboard, and you'll use an old typewriter or pen and paper...but you must write. If it sells, great...but you cannot ignore the creative imperative! And you dread the day that you're too old to write, when they take away your keyboard, just as they took away the paint brushes from Grandma Moses when she got too old to paint.

Asimov once said that if he knew that he only had a little while left to live, he'd just write more and faster. I think you and I both understand what he meant.

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Thanks -- I needed that right now.

2014 was so ****ing horrendous in so many ways that there wasn't really much choice than to just shut out my head and deal with what was in front of me. Not a recipe for creativity. I've barely touched a keyboard, or pen, or anything else for quite a while.

I know better, but in those moments, you think it'll just never come back again. Good to be wrong.

I don't give any kind of a **** about making a living on it. I almost hope I don't. Making a job of what you love can be soul-crushing. It'd be nice to make a chunk of change on it, publish something larger than what I have already someday, just so it's out there in the world. But I don't want it to be a 9-to-5 ever.

I'll never be too old. If I'm too old, just pull the damn plug. No point in sitting there as a vacant cadaver waiting for the end.

Glen Contrarian said:

Remember, there's no such thing as global warming, or if there is global warming, it must be from something, ANYthing other than burning fossil fuels. But as to the rest of your post, I'll raise a glass of egg nog in hearty agreement!

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Don't worry bro, winter is coming.

Happy Thanksgiving Glen, cheers.

I'm thankful for the things we take for granted in the fat lands of Earth, but that are luxuries in many places. At the turn of a spigot, I have safe drinking water right in my kitchen. I don't have to haul it from the local river or well, and worry that it might make me sick. At the turn of a switch, I have light. At the push of a button, my house is warmed or cooled, as the situation requires. I have my own car, and don't have to ask permission to come and go, nor do I have to be concerned about being stopped at military check points. I can use it to go to a local market where foods from all over the world are available.

Moreover, even if I were black, Jewish, or female, I could still come and go as I please, and would still be considered one of "all men" who are created equal.

We can, and do of course, gripe about the government, taxes, and general stupidity, but forget at times that the right to gripe and even to change what we don't like isn't something that is generally available all over the world.

Life in the fat lands, the great western democracies, is so much better than it is in much of the world that we have little to really gripe about.

Have a great thanksgiving, and, next time you turn on a faucet or drink from a fountain, think for a moment how many children would not die of cholera or other water borne diseases if the whole world could do the same.

Dittohead not! said:

What are you thankful for?

Personally, I'm thankful for a variety of things, starting with having been born in the US and not in a place where there is constant warfare and/or insurmountable poverty.

How about you?

Click to expand...

I am thankful:

1 - that I am out of the military

2 - that I am back in the USA

3 - that I did not marry any of the bimbo's I dated

4 - that my 401K is solvent

5 - that I have recovered from 3 surgeries

6 - that I was born in Florida

7 - that I have outlived many of my friends

8 - that I can still run 2 1/2 miles

9 - that I can still mountain bike 25 miles

10 - that social security and medicare are still sound

11 - that my poor old 4WD vehicle is still running great

12 - that we (the USA) are currently between wars

13 - that nobody has come knocking at my door under the color of authority to try to take away my guns.

Dittohead not! said:

I'm thankful for the things we take for granted in the fat lands of Earth, but that are luxuries in many places. At the turn of a spigot, I have safe drinking water right in my kitchen. I don't have to haul it from the local river or well, and worry that it might make me sick. At the turn of a switch, I have light. At the push of a button, my house is warmed or cooled, as the situation requires. I have my own car, and don't have to ask permission to come and go, nor do I have to be concerned about being stopped at military check points. I can use it to go to a local market where foods from all over the world are available.

Moreover, even if I were black, Jewish, or female, I could still come and go as I please, and would still be considered one of "all men" who are created equal.

We can, and do of course, gripe about the government, taxes, and general stupidity, but forget at times that the right to gripe and even to change what we don't like isn't something that is generally available all over the world.

Life in the fat lands, the great western democracies, is so much better than it is in much of the world that we have little to really gripe about.

Have a great thanksgiving, and, next time you turn on a faucet or drink from a fountain, think for a moment how many children would not die of cholera or other water borne diseases if the whole world could do the same.

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DH, I often wonder sometimes if it is not the fault of the USA for spending so much money on war since 1942 that this is the reason little economic development has come to underdeveloped lands?

I know that the Russians and the Chinese are also partly to blame for this as well, and recently also the radical Islamists in addition.

Glen Contrarian said:

I do not know if you're actually from Iran, but I do know that as history marches on, President Obama will be seen as one of our very best presidents. I know, I know, there's a lot of people who gag at the very thought...but the facts and the numbers are irrefutable, and can only be denied by those who are determined to ignore the facts and the numbers.

Click to expand...

Not to get off track, but ...

Obama will likely go down as a middle of the road POTUS -- not particularly great but not particularly bad either.

Whereas the messes created by the 2 Bush presidents and their exorbitant tax hikes on the poor and tax cuts for the rich will show them to be 2 of the worst.

Reagan shines mostly because Carter was inept.

Clinton was lucky with the dot com bubble and the real estate bubble.

Ford inept.

Nixon corrupt.

LBJ incompetent, however he did inaugurate civil rights and also medicare.

JFK not in long enough to tell either way.

Ike was definitely brilliant.

Truman struggled.

FDR was one of the best we ever had, right up there with Lincoln and Washington. Although the John Birch Society and their clones and remnants hate FDR to this day.

Enough said about the Presidents then.

I am thankful that they each did their jobs as best as they could.

I would not want that job -- it is a 4 to 8 year prison sentence under heavily armed guard.