A Day To Give Thanks...

So on this day of thanks, in spite of the current economic situation which I am feeling firsthand, there are still many things that I am thankful for…

~I am thankful for the childhood my parents provided to me. Because of it, I am a well balanced, secure and stable person.

~I am thankful that I have the knowledge and strength to consider a career change which could drastically change my future.

~I am thankful for my very large and very expanded family and the close proximity we all live to one another. I can’t imagine how life would be without all the love that fills our homes every holiday season and all year long.

~I am thankful to have so many lifelong friends from as early as grammar school for which I know, are true friends who will always be there for me.

~I am thankful for my health because I am all too familiar with how quickly this can change in a person’s life.

As you feast on your turkey with all the trimmings today, remember to give thanks to all the people or things that enrich your life.

If you’re going through tough times and having difficulty finding anything to be thankful for, look around and find at least one simple pleasure that puts a smile on your face and give thanks for that one thing. My simple pleasure is my loving and loyal dog :).

Some fun random Thanksgiving Day facts….

*U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday in 1863.

*In 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt established the current date for observance, the fourth Thursday of November.

*Approximately 46 million turkeys will end up on U.S. dinner tables this Thanksgiving.

*Minnesota is the United States's top turkey-producing state

*U.S. farmers will also produce 709 million pounds of cranberries

*The U.S. will also grow 1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes and produce 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins.

*Since 1947 the National Turkey Federation has presented two live turkeys—and a ready-to-eat turkey—to the President, according to federation spokesperson Sherrie Rosenblatt. "There are two birds," Rosenblatt explained, "the presidential turkey and the vice presidential turkey, which is an alternate, in case the presidential turkey is unable to perform its duties." Those duties pretty much boil down to not biting the President during the photo opportunity with the press.

*Pilgrims were familiar with turkeys before they landed in the Americas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Attitude ~by Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

A belated Veteran's Day blog

Since Veteran’s Day was just observed this week, I thought this blog would be appropriate. I recently watched a documentary on an American soldier who was called back to duty in Iraq. I have to say, it was a heart wrenching documentary to watch. He already served for 3 ½ years in Iraq and was being called back again. The camera followed him for days prior to leaving American soil, then through basic training, with a final destination in Iraq. Once in Iraq, the soldier gave the viewer a glimpse of what his daily life was like while stationed overseas. This soldier was stationed in Baghdad. The poverty stricken streets and the barricades he lived within were as scary as I had imagined. Not that I was expecting to see The Ritz Hotel, but their living quarters were nothing less than the most basic of amenities…and as shown in the video, even the basics weren’t always guaranteed. The soldier commented on how he mastered the art of showering with a water bottle because they no longer had running water in their barracks. As I was sitting in suspense the entire time he was being filmed walking through the sandy, gloomy streets of Baghdad, it was hard to remember I wasn’t watching a drama series and in fact, this was someone’s real life. Wow, the dangerous situations all soldiers put themselves in! And to think most of them volunteered! It really takes a special type of person to enlist in the military. I personally, couldn’t do it and wouldn’t want anyone close to me to enlist either.

I realize it’s important to have a military to preserve our security however I don’t necessarily agree with our military going to war to resolve conflict. I know there are so many ways to debate the issue of war that it’s a dichotomy of opinions. I’m not going to delve very deeply into my own, often contradicting beliefs on this either, because it will be a never ending blog leading to no definitive right answer. I’ll say just this. I don’t claim to know all there is to know about the war, government, the military etc. but I don’t necessarily see how invading another country to infiltrate their government (as corrupt as it might be) and impose our belief system on them, is the right way to go. I realize the fact that there is no simple answer however, attacking these countries, risking so many of our young soldiers lives, spending exorbitant amounts of our money and essentially going to war for peace ,simply cannot be the right answer.

I think if every President had to enlist in the military prior to even considering becoming a president, they might not act so quickly on emotions when sending our troops into combat. That should be a prerequisite to becoming a president…makes sense to me.

I also think more should be done for those who serve our country, especially if they go to war. I decided to look up the number of homeless soldiers living in The United States. The National Coalition of Homeless Veterans is quoted as saying “Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country. According to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999), veterans account for 23 percent of all homeless people in America.” There’s really nothing I can say about this other than it deeply saddens me and more should be expected of our government as it relates to the welfare of our soldiers.

I’ll end this by simply saying, to all the men and women who have served, continue to serve and who will serve our country...THANK YOU for having the courage and bravery to do so!