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?
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!