Thanksgiving is a day we set aside for more than turkey and football games. It is a national holiday set aside to give thanks for the blessings in life. Maybe you have heard of the Gratitude Challenge. This is an online social experiment that has gone viral. The participant agrees to follow a scripted calendar that asks them to express gratitude each day for 21 days straight. At the end of the 21 days, the hypothesis states that you will be happier than you were before you began the challenge. The idea was the brainchild of the people behind tinyprints.com. They had 30 original bloggers who took the challenge and shared their gratitude. And life happened. One lady was in a horrific car accident. Another was dealing with an autistic child. Another lady was on day three when a tornado ripped through her small community. But through the difficult times, these three ladies all expressed gratitude in the midst of it all. Since then, many more people have taken the challenge to take note of the many blessings around us and to give thanks. (You can find out more on this web site: http://gratitudechallenge.com).

Now wait a minute! I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to utopian ideas and thinking positive thoughts to make the bleakest days brighter. I am reminded that some of the most atrocious acts recorded in history came at the expense of people who were gullible enough to believe that they could work their way out of terrible trouble. (The Nazis of Germany during the 1930s and 40s were notorious for posting signs at the entrance of death camps that stated that "work was good” – making people believe in the socialist idea that everyone working together was going to pay off in the end!) However, my life is nowhere near being the scant existence of a death camp; but to heed the thoughts that rumble inside my head, sometimes you would think it was. Trouble has a way of causing us all to worry. And worry, I am convinced, causes us to think more about what we don’t have than what we do have. And when we are focused on what we don’t have, bitterness takes root and robs us of the joy of the blessings of life.

Stop for a second and think about the things that are true blessings in your life – big or small. I think about my family first – my wife and my kids. Without them, I would be a lopsided man. I also think of the people I interact with on a regular basis – my administrative assistant, Jaime; my web guys, Bill and Nehemiah; my video editor, Greg. They are all very good people whom I enjoy. I think of my clients and how I enjoy working with them. I also think of small things, like the view of the sunrise off of the bridge over the lake that I drive each morning. Every day is filled with new colors. I only get a glimpse, but I love what I see. I went jogging this morning before the sun came up – a great way to start any day. I ate a bowl of homemade vegetable soup for lunch. It was delicious! I had breakfast with a good friend this week. He loaned me a book that I began reading this past week. It was a blessing. Do I feel better after writing this paragraph? Yes, most definitely!

It is worth it to stop and take notice of the many good things that are happening all around each one of us. As we get past Thanksgiving, the designated day for being grateful, what about the rest of the calendar? I would challenge you to count your blessings – take the gratitude challenge – as we enter into the Christmas holiday season and beyond. Make your world a better place beginning on the inside of you.