It’s Time to Count Your Real Blessings

I opened this issue by looking at the little things to be thankful for today.

Now, let’s get serious…

Be thankful for your wealth.

You haven’t hit the Forbes list. But you have enough money to put clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and food in your stomach. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts,” H.U. Westermayer reminds us. “No Americans have been more impoverished than these, who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”

However meager your financial assets are now, they greatly exceed those of the great majority of the world’s population. Say “thank you” for that.

Be thankful for your health.

You have aches. You have pains. You may have illness and infirmity. But you also have time every day when you can enjoy yourself and the company of the people you love and are loved by. Say “thank you” for that.

Be thankful for having the wisdom to recognize and appreciate your greatest blessings:

• The gift of a conscious life

• Your health (See above.)

• The love you share with the people you cherish

• The power of your mind — the immense and unfettered potential to choose your thoughts

• Your work — the value you find in what you do and the good you create from it

[Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]