Next to Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.† I don't care about the food - any meal is fine wih me.† What I love about Thanksgiving is the "being thankful" part.† My friend Tami Spaulding calls it "gratitudes."† Those little moments of consciously thinking of something to be thankful about.

Earlier this year I purposely read through a series on my shelf, "Small Miracles: Extraordinary Coincidences from Everyday Life," The subsequent adjustment in my attitude of gratitude helped counter balance all the doom and gloom of political warring and economic woes.

I choose an attitude of gratitude

I am only as happy as I decide to be.† And when I think of all the lovely people who enrich my life, I am a wealthy woman.† To me, success is not in how a bank account mounts up, but how many gratitudes I own.† Stuff like times shared, potlucks thrown together at the last moment, books passed hand to hand, phone calls just to say hello, that special touch that makes me skin tingle ... and some air in my lungs.

Oh yeah.† And I like the crazy-shaped hot air balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. † Must have watched both versions of Miracle on 34th Street too much or something.

I am not naive.† I'm simply pragmatic about choosing my attitude.† Sometimes it is the only thing I have a choice over.