Today’s list could be much longer – I have to limit myself if I want to stick to my initial range of 10-12 things… So, I invite YOU to add to the list in the comments section! 🙂

Twelve Inventions from World History to be Thankful for:

1. Eyeglasses
2. Paper
3. The Thesaurus 
4. The Telescope
5. The Camera
6. Indoor Plumbing
7. The Printing Press
8. Refrigeration
9. The Harp – and all other musical instruments
10. Mittens
11. Stained Glass Windows
12. Jigsaw Puzzles

Today’s gratitude list is a bit more lighthearted.

Ten Types of Small Animals I’m Thankful for (and Why)

1. Hummingbirds: Talk about an amazing combination of loveliness, energy, diligence, and grace packed in a tiny little body.
2. Elephant shrews: Speed, ingenuity, and sharp instincts plus what might be the cutest snout in the world.
3. Chinchillas: Holding them and petting their luxurious fur should become a technique used by therapists.
4. Sparrows: They remind me of the simple beauty and hidden value in every living being.
5. Spiders: (Why am I adding one of my least favorite animals to this list??) They decrease the surplus bug population.
6. Cardinals: Their song brings me cheer on a winter’s day like few other things can.
7. Robins: They remind me be patient – winter will end and spring will come.
8. Worms: They make the robins fat and beautiful…and they help us catch the best fish.
9. Butterflies: Seeing them reminds me that there is a special beauty in admitting ones own fragile nature.
10. Guinea pigs: For anyone who has every known one, no special reason is needed! 🙂

Which animals from my list are you also thankful for? Which animals, if any, would you add to this list? Feel free to comment!

Our culture of consumerism has evolved so highly that most businesses and many average people barely give Thanksgiving a passing thought as they move right from Halloween to Christmas. It struck me this past week – when I heard yet another ad for a then-to-be-aired Christmas special on TV (??) – how sad that is.

After all, while I believe that gratitude should be a daily choice and a year-long attitude to which we aspire, at least those who pause to count their blessings and offer a thought on that one day a year are moving in the right direction of refocusing amid life’s craziness.

And life feels crazier than ever.

I thought things would calm down after Election Day ended and all of the political ads stopped entering my home by mail and by screen.

The ads may have stopped, but the angst and anger haven’t missed a beat. 

I thought the past week would be a normal one. But what started as “normal” for many across the country started as hellish for many in California.

The shooter may have stopped, but the fearful ripple effect from the boulder he dropped in that pond has spread from sea to shining sea.

I got to thinking: many people celebrate a season of advent to prepare their hearts and minds for Christmas, so why not celebrate a shorter, similar season leading up to Thanksgiving, as a way to prime the pump of observation?

After all, while it is important to be aware of grim realities, a thankful heart is far more likely to seek and hold hope than a fearful heart is. And a heart that looks for the good and the peaceful will help to usher the good and the peaceful into the swirling chaos.

So, starting with this post, I’m going to write a new post every day until Thanksgiving. (The following ones will generally be much shorter than this one!) In each of these Thanksgiving Advent posts, I’m going to list ten to twelve reasons why I am thankful for some thing or topic, or ten to twelve reasons I would say thank you to a person or a group of people.

Today, in honor of the additional holiday, I will start with:

Ten “Thank Yous” to Our Veterans

1. Thank you for sticking with it during basic training in those moments when it would have been so easy to give up.
2. Thank you for putting up with MREs and other barely edible rations…and perhaps for pressing on with no food at all…while I have been safe at home, warm and well-fed.
3. Thank you for working some gruelingly long-shifts and going without (preferred) leave days.
4. Thank you for taking the night watch in foreign countries so that I could sleep snugly and dreamlessly in my own soft bed.
5. Thank you for taking orders from some commanders who were power-hungry jerks because you believed duty and love of country are far greater than any leader’s ego.
6. Thank you for putting yourself in harm’s way to spare the lives of your compatriots, your fellow countrymen, and even the innocent citizens of other countries.
7. Thank you for enduring enormous mental and emotional stress – things that often lead to the deepest wounds – so that I might have peace of mind.
8. Thank you for waking up at sunrise or long before – whenever the bugle sounded, the siren wailed, or the alarm rang – to go about vital tasks that no one on the outside will ever know you have done for us.
9. Thank you for taking bullets, shrapnel, and every other physical infliction or pain you’ve ever experienced…to make those around you safer for one more day. 
10. Thank you for doing all this and more – and going for days, weeks, months, or years without being thanked for it. It was not in vain.

Will you agree to join me in this shorter advent journey by doing one or more of the following?

• Read each new post and stop to ponder what you personally have to feel grateful for in relation to that day’s topic?
• Leave a comment for myself and other readers to consider – things on that day’s list that are most important to you or other things you’d add to that day’s list?
• Carry those thoughts of thankfulness and goodness with you throughout your day, inviting them to radiate from you to improve your living and working environments?
• Share (links to) posts you feel are timely with your friends via social media, email, text, or word-of-mouth?

Thank YOU! 🙂