It’s Thanksgiving Day, one of my favorite days of the year. In the near distance I hear the muffled sounds of the television, worship music, and the sweet harmonies of familiar voices flowing together effortlessly. It sounds like home. Another 365 days have passed, another lap around the sun. I can see. I can feel. I am alive. I am breathing. I am grateful.

The trials of life can convince us that we have more reasons to complain, more reasons to be disatisfied than to be thankful, but the mere fact that we are alive in the first place to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad is a blessing in itself. I have learned and am yet learning that life doesn’t need to be perfect to be beautiful and as a result I don’t have to feel great to be grateful.

This life we have been given with it’s ups and downs and imperfections is the gift. This very breath as it passes through our lungs is all we need to be truly grateful. You are still here, after all you’ve been through, after all you’ve lost and gained, fought and overcame. You are here. You are alive and as my beautiful mother would say, “as long as there is life, there is hope”. It means that with each breath drawn you are given a renewed opportunity to live life to the full. That is reason enough to thank God.

When I weigh my life the scale tips heavily on the side of blessings. That is not because of material possessions or a problem free reality. Rather, it is the numerous little things that add up as I walk through life. The butterfly that flits past my face, reminding me of the beauty of nature. Or, the flower that resiliently remains in November, a baby who laughs with me brightly in the department store, filling my heart with unspeakable joy. Being fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the sun as it resigns for the night, the sound of my mother’s deep, heartfelt laughter… I count it all blessings. I have concluded that I have much more to be appreciative of than not. I have 100,000,000 reasons to be grateful.

I believe you do too, friend. If you cannot see it, count again.

100,000,000 Reasons To Be Grateful