This thanksgiving, what are you thankful about ?

Giving thanks.
Life is full of joy and happiness. Full of things, people and moments to enjoy and be thankful for.

But here are some things that we forget about and forget to be thankful for. Some things in life that we take for granted and are some of the most important things in our existance.

. The air we breath.


Air pollution.

Yes, the air we breath. After living in one of the most polluted cities in the world for many years, the air we are breathing has become very valuable. The pollution in many countries is unbelievable and the air is simply un-breathable. I remember when visited Tehran, the capitol of Iran. my eyes and my troth was burning from the car smoke and pollution. My white clothes turned black in just less than an hour. So yes, the air I am breathing today is one important thing for me to be thankful for.



Water pollution

. The water we drink.
I one saw this funny picture of a child looking surprised and saying " You are telling me you have so much clean water that you go putty in it?" . This is actually the interesting truth. There are so many people around the world that are missing drinking water. I remember that my dad was telling me stories about when he went to a very far away village in Iran to evaluate the situation for building a road ( He is an engineer). The villagers were very happy to see him and with lots of respect, they brought him water to drink. He said that, he saw dirt and small worms at the bottom of the glass. Now many years later, thinking about that, makes me appreciate every drop of clean, fresh water that i drink. I am deeply thankful.

. The comfort of having a shelter.
No matter how big or small our homes are, they are still our homes and they are a shelter for us to rest in. At this time, where we live, we have wild deers and turkies in our backyard all the time. few days ago, we had a big rain and i caught myself feeling worried for those deers. Then i remembered that all the animals in nature are living outdoors. Only us, humans are the ones that build shelters. We even have the luxury kinds too. This though gave me a deep satisfaction and thankfulness regarding my life and the simple fact , that my family and I, are having a shelter in the cold of the winter and in the heat of the summer. I am just so thankful.

. health.
Not long ago i was watching a very sad movie about a family that had AIDS. That night i slept very thankful. I realised the best news in the world for that family, at any given moment, would be someone telling them that they don't have AIDS any more. That night i though about it long and deep and i was so thankful that my family and I, live a life that could be the best news for someone. I am so thankful for every thing in my life. For having a somewhat healthy brain, a relatively healthy body and healthy family.

. Being born as a human.
I am not jocking. This one might sound very weired. But think about it. We could have been a fish or a lizard. But we happen to be a human being. The most intelligent creature on earth. We can build things and live a comfortable life. We are indeed very lucky to be human. The wisdom and knowledge of humanity serve us enormously and improve the quality of our lives.

. Having food to eat.
This one goes back to being human. imagine if we had to hunt our own food and there was no agriculture, farms or meat production. We are just lucky and need to be thankful. Be able to go to store or farmers market and buy our food is a huge blessing. Others worked hard to provide this food for us. I never forget what my daughter's 8 years old friend once said. She grabbed a grain of rice and said " We should not waste anything. It took a whole year for this rice to grow, so we can eat it". What a nice way to look at our food.

What are you thankful for today?