Chamber offers thoughts on gratitude and thanks

In the November Chamber Chatter, the Luverne Area Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere offered ways to be grateful this holiday season.
Specifically, she suggested being thankful for this list of blessings:
•Awakening alive. Just waking up is something we should be grateful for every day of our lives. Being alive allows us to love, enjoy, make decisions, act and make our day the best.
•Breathing decent air. We can walk outdoors and can’t see the air we breathe. For many people in the world that isn’t the case. Be grateful to live in the Midwest … out on the prairie.
•Each new day to learn and earn our daily bread. Be thankful every day for the opportunity you have to learn something new and for having the chance to receive some financial compensation if you have a job. Many people don’t have the opportunity to learn or work. So, be thankful for the opportunity.
•A home in which to live, eat, sleep and relax. We really are fortunate if we are not those who must live in a car, in an abandoned house or building, in a shack or on a bench in a park. Visualize a person who doesn’t have a home when you complain that your house or apartment is very hot or cold, or for a very high utility bill or high rent. At least we have a choice.
•Eat clean food and have the option to satiate our hunger. Most of us have not seen the need to make queues for two and up to four hours to buy some bread or some eggs. We don’t know what it feels like to wait for a Red Cross truck loaded with rice boxes for the needy. We have never had to wait in the back of a restaurant for leftovers. We need to keep all this in mind when we feed ourselves, and be thankful for the opportunity to be able to do it.
•Friends, family and pets. Most of us have one or more of these things in life. In some parts of the country and the world, some people and children are alone – who don’t have friends or relatives, or even a pet. Be thankful for what you have of these three things every day of your life.
•The clothes we wear. There are many people who don’t have the basics to dress, much less to protect themselves from the environment. Keep in mind if you count on it, be thankful for it and think of others when you check the clothes that you no longer use.
•The gift of being able to choose. Although sometimes we feel stuck in the way, we always have the possibility to choose what we want to do to change and achieve our goals. This is truly a gift. We always have a choice, to choose our way. And this is generally taken for granted, ignored or not used or developed enough.
•Every pleasant moment in our lives. There are many moments during the day when we have pleasant experiences with ourselves and others that we should be thankful for. Because all those moments together are the ones that make up the peace and happiness of every human being.
•The gift of good health and health care. With health, we can do everything we want, and if we aren’t healthy, we have providers that can help us. We can fulfill our goals and feel good about ourselves.
This year hasn’t been easy for many of us, but focusing on the good in our lives is the best way to find happiness amid the challenges.