Giving Thanks

II DON'T GIVE THANKS any more on thanksgiving than I do on any other day, because I give thanks every day, abundantly. I am blessed. daily existence and cognition are for me ample reason alone to give daily thanks. My gratitude is directed towards "the infinitely superior spirit manifest in the laws of the universe", as Einstein said. Recent psychological research strongly suggests that an "attitude of gratitude" nurtures good health, physical and mental, so why not nurture it every day? More specifically, it is easy and appropriate to be grateful for having had loving, caring parents who provided for my every childhood need, and encouraged my healthy maturation through good responsible parenting. My local community gave me a good education,, and my friends have always filled my life with joy. Equally important has been the benefit of living in a country which gave me a chance to flourish, with only a reasonably limited risk of succumbing to violence, accident, or illness. To have been blessed with good health and a sound mind is the greatest blessing of all. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, for many reasons. Its a great weekend for football and basketball, and I love a good turkey dinner. And since gratitude is so fundamental to my attitude, thanksgiving suits me perfectly. No matter what a person's religious beliefs, giving thanks fits. I know of no religion which does not believe in giving thanks. In the United States, thanksgiving has emerged as a quasi religious quasi civic holiday, a unique. It gives students a nice autumnal break, and my belief is that school should be year round, with a good break in each of the four seasons. The memory of past thanksgivings warms my heart. Mom always cooked a turkey, and when I moved out she always sent a good part of it home with me. Nothing equals the blessings of left over turkey, as everyone knows. On Thanksgiving day 1981 my Chicago bears returned a kickoff for a touchdown in overtime for a game winner. I come from a small family, so my holiday memories tend not to include a large number of people. Now I live aloes, a d last year was invited to, and accepted invitations to four thanksgiving dinners. I spent the rest of the year dieting, by necessity. I learned my lesson. this year I chose to h ide at home, give thanks alone, and avoid the necessity of last year's post thanksgiving fasting.