Let’s play that game we all played in kindergarten. Let’s sit in a circle and go around, each sharing what we’re thankful for this year. “My family and friends,” although they definitely count as something to be incredibly thankful for, is an overdone answer. Let’s challenge ourselves to think outside that box a little. Let’s explore and appreciate 20 other luxuries to remember to be grateful for. Of course, this list is just a taste of everything we should be thankful for.
1. The sun
2. The moon
3. Soft breezes
4. Thunderstorms
5. Food
- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported in 2015 that 795 million people in the world are food-insecure. Around 1 in 9 people in the world are hungry. You’re probably not one of those 1 of 9.
6. Clean water to drink
- Bonus if you don’t have to trek miles through desert or jungle, walk all the way back, boil the water, and let it cool before you drink it. Bonus if you don’t get toxic water laden with lead that’s slowly killing you. Bonus if you can flip a faucet and clean water, at the temperature you want, just comes out. Seriously a miracle.
7. Your shower
- With hot water, too? Man, you live like a king.
8. Your job
- Drop, “I have to work today.” Start saying, “I get to work today.”
9. Your education
- A Harvard study found that just 6.7% of the world has a college degree. If you are in college or have been, let that sink in for a second.
10. Your health: physical, mental, and spiritual
11. Your clothing
12. Your bed
- A bed is truly a luxury. Beats any sidewalk, floor, or hard ground. Growing up, I used to complain that I had a twin bed and some of my friends had full-size beds. I know now that I didn’t appreciate what I had.
13. Flowers
- Simple, beautiful little things that nature created. Absolutely amazing.
14. Laughs of loved ones
- Maybe throw in with this one your sense of hearing, if you’re lucky enough to have the ability to hear. That’s why you can hear joyous laughter.
15. Music. Sweet music.
- See note above.
16. All of Earth’s creatures: plants, animals, protists, fungi, archaebacteria, and eubacteria
- Plants and animals are the obvious ones. No one seems to remember fungi or the bacterias. They deserve the same love, and the world couldn’t be complete without them.
17. Cars, planes, trains, boats, and public transportation
- Aren’t we fortunate to be able to travel long, un-walkable distances to go to places we want or need to go? Not even just about visiting your friend who lives far away. We can drive to a grocery store that offers us fruits and vegetables. We can drive to doctors’ offices to seek care for our health. We can take ourselves or our loved ones to school if it’s far away.
18. Electricity
- You never know how many things you rely on every day use electricity until you lose power….
19. Photography
- Isn’t it an amazing thing to be able to push a button and capture a memory you can keep forever? The sentimentalist in me thinks she couldn’t live without cameras.
20. This day
- Today is a new day. You got to wake up this morning and greet it. Seize it.