Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s an American tradition; the day we give thanks for all we have. Thanks for the things, the conditions and the people we may take completely for granted the other 364 days of the year.

What I love most about Thanksgiving is the purity of it.

Notice how we don’t buy each other gifts. You know, the gifts we must make sure are at least as good as the ones we think we will receive. The gifts we cannot afford. The gifts we end up paying for, many months after the holiday has passed.

Notice how it does not matter what religion we practice. Anyone can celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the holiday that celebrates diversity and inclusion. Kind of like how our forefathers envisioned us as a country.

Notice how there aren’t any goofball, make-believe characters that we have morphed into being the icon of Thanksgiving. Not even the turkey has taken on any meaning, other than food for our feast. Now I don’t have anything against Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. They are great fairy tales for kids. They just don’t have anything to do with Christianity, nor does spending billions of borrowed dollars to celebrate these characters.

Gratitude carries such amazing power. Gratitude instantly reshapes our over-amped ambitions, competitiveness and rat-race mentality. Gratitude heals many wounds and every relationship, when we give it a chance.

If you want to give someone a gift that will really make a difference — a gift that they will remember and likely keep forever — write them a letter about how much you appreciate them, love them and cherish them. Tell them the specific things they do and who they are that is such a gift to you. It is free, but priceless.

Today I am reminded of, and celebrate, those qualities of my life for which I am thankful. I share them with you here so that you will perhaps make a list of your own. Carry them in your heart all year, and all your years to come are guaranteed to be more peaceful, loving and abundant.

I am thankful for:

My health … for without it, nothing else matters much. This is the area of my life I still take for granted, and I do make improvements every year.

My lover, wife and life partner Christine … who inspires in me a love like I have only imagined. She makes me want to be a better man.

My friends … you know, the ones who do not have a vested interest in any conditions; they are just my friends. Period. No matter what, they are always there and always will be.

My experiences … some extraordinary, some frightful. Some I am happy to have out of the way, so I do not have to go through them in the future. They have given me great empathy, some wisdom, and have fed my infinite curiosity about life and people and places.

My financial freedom … which gives me so many things. Freedom to pursue my passions: flying, poker, real estate, personal development, exploring, business. The peace of mind that we will never be homeless, forced to take a meaningless job, or be in a position to not take care of each other.

My associates … so much of my freedom and peace of mind comes from the loyalty, gratitude and commitment of the people with whom I work: sales leaders; office staff; corporate leaders and customers. I vow never to take any of them or their efforts for granted, for without them … well, I would just have to start over. No fun.

My country … what extraordinary good fortune for most of us that we live in Canada or the U.S. As selfish, immature and twisted as some of our country’s political, business and religious leaders are, we still are the place where people die every day in an attempt to come here.

People will die this week in pursuit of the level of religious freedom we enjoy; in pursuit of this economic opportunity; in pursuit of our Bill of Rights. They will give their lives attempting to cross our borders or cross an ocean to freedom. They will pay a king’s ransom and risk their lives just for a shot at the life we take for granted.

And yes, 2009 will go down as a year when we all got a reality check. When the Universe (or God or whomever) slapped us down for being so lazy, irresponsible and greedy. The year when we maxed out our global Visa card so badly that our credit limit was slashed, trashing our grandiose lifestyle. Our overheated economic growth of the last decade was not due to our productivity or ingenuity, but rather the virtually unlimited credit for everything from cars, to clothes, to twice the house we really could afford. Let it be a lesson to us. We need a more "pay-as-we-go" lifestyle.

Several years ago, I hopped a plane for Havana, Cuba, and spent a week wandering the streets of the old district. The city looks like the ornate parts of San Francisco, but with the lights turned out about 1956. There has been no maintenance of the infrastructure since then. The plumbing does not work anymore. Water is pumped from trucks to tanks on the rooftops; sewage drains into the streets. Electricity, when it does work, is hand-strung from dwelling to dwelling. People live in almost cave-like condos they have carved out of the rubble. I met a lady who lived in a room as small as our bathroom. She had lived and raised her family there since 1958, with the same refrigerator. How many of us have the same anything from 1958?

People in Cuba are so scared of Fidel and Raúl, they lower their heads and whisper at midnight in their own homes when you ask about them. Many Cubans have made a run across the sea to Florida. Some of those I met on my trip did not make it when they fled. For every day at sea, they get a year in prison. Prison in Cuba is so bad, the manliest of men could not speak to me about it.

Cuba is 90 miles off our coast. In a fun boat they could be here in less than an hour. They occasionally get to read our magazines or catch a radio broadcast, but other than that they are living on dreams … the dream of one day living in the USA or, better yet, of having America come back to them.

If you are thankful for nothing else this day, be thankful you live where you do. Any of us could have easily been born 90 miles south of the wrong border.

Thanksgiving.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this day was the most celebrated day in our year? Celebrated by us truly giving thanks, saying thank you and meaning thank you.

I do thank each of you for the part you play in my life. Without you, it would be maybe a little or maybe a lot different. I love it just the way it is.

www.RichardBrooke.com

COMMENTS (17 - Responses)

Lita Mae Button
11/3/2009 3:02:06 PM

Thank You Richard for such an important topic the power of appreciation. All of the thanks that you have written about are things that people often forget in their everyday lives, and if they looked at the bigger picture, they would realize that we are so blessed. Thank You once again for summerizing how blessed we are.

Julia Irrgang
11/3/2009 3:33:08 PM

Dear Richard,
Thank you,Our very special friend. You are always so elequent with your message.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving As we will ours!
Julia and Richard Irrgang

Nile C. Costa
11/3/2009 4:21:18 PM

Thank you dear Richard for your authentic and heartfilled words.
I am thankful for having you into my life and for us having been members of Oxyfresh for a few GOOD years of our life.

The EXPERIENCE of living the Oxyfresh lifestyle can not be translated into words. It has to be LIVED to the full expression.

I am inviting my friends and blood family, to take a look at what we have :
A PRIVILEGED LIFE that can not be buy for any amount of money.

Is worth it and it PAYS FORWARD.

Nile

Rosanne Donahoe
11/3/2009 6:49:06 PM

I have appreciated your heart and clear thinking since I met you and this article is a gift for us all.
Thanks for being you, Richard.

David Bevel
11/3/2009 8:57:18 PM

Perfect!

Joe Lancelot
11/4/2009 6:40:57 AM

Thank you Richard

A very timely and well said message. It does make you reflect and appreciate what we have, something we do not do often enough.

Regards

Joe

Ian & Karen Hurley
11/10/2009 3:22:29 AM

Thank you Richard
We are thankful for having the opportunity to be associated with you and the people around you. I love the way you think and how you put your thoughts into words. Your skills to us are priceless. Thank you for the acknowledgments of the people around you. We do respect you.

Thank you for giving to us!

Ian & Karen Hurley

Jere Mcgrew
11/23/2009 10:11:28 AM

Thank you Richard for giving me such a great start in this way of business. I am grateful for your integrity, leadership and sense of fun ! The skills I learned and gifts I unearthed changed the course of my life. May this goodness flow back to you and continue to multiply.

Dr Terry Gibson
11/23/2009 10:35:13 AM

Great article Richard-

My wife, 17 year old daughter, and I gave talks in our church yesterday and the topic was

Bette Ann
11/23/2009 10:44:00 AM

Dear Richard
Thank you for this wonderful message. I will be sharing it with family and friends.
We are so fortunate here in the United States and yet have become in so many ways a throw away society ,unthankful for the blessings bestowed upon us. How sad.
May those of us fortunate enough to read this message be caring enough to share it with others that need to see the light of gratitude in thier life.
Thank you for sharing your message and may everyone take it to heart to reflex on all we have to be thankful for everyday of our lives.
I am thankful for your sharing as you do.
Blessings Bette

Chris Kemp
11/23/2009 12:43:56 PM

Thank you Richard.
What a fantastic message. I will print this out and keep it where I can read it daily! We are so very lucky, aren't we?

Connie Gremm
11/23/2009 2:43:48 PM

Richard,

This was truely a blessing! Just reading it made me soooo grateful for who I am and the relationships I have here on earth. God bless you throughout this next year so you can have another wonderful

Bob And Judie Brown
11/23/2009 3:21:42 PM

We are in Australia and this holiday isn't observed here. In Canada (Judie is Canadian) it is celebrated in October. This message arrived just when we needed it and we have shared it with all those that we are so grateful to have as friends in our lives. Thank you for sharing it with us and now we have shared it with many many more people. Awesome, thank you thank you thank you. Judie and Bob Brown Adelaide Australia

Eric Raz
11/24/2009 9:57:27 AM

Richard

Thank you for your very insightful message. We don't observe Thanksgiving here in Madagascar but it reminds me of the so many blessings God has lavished on me : and having you as a special friend and as a mentor is one of those blessings I am forever so thankful of and greatly appreciate !

Kind regards,

Eric

Diane Bond
11/25/2009 7:59:59 AM

Thank You Richard--I'm truly blessed to have a business with very high morals like Oxyfresh in my life. Thank You for your supreme leadership, integrity, enthusiasm, caring for others & letting us know & provide the traits & tools we need now & to go forward for the future.

This is a privileged life that can never be bought for any amount of money.

God Bless you & your family on Thanksgving Day.

Diane Bond

P.S. The international interview with Karen Phelps last night was excellent.

Glennis Waltman
11/28/2009 10:43:47 AM

Powerful insight! Thanks for sharing.

Glennis Waltman

Jan Knutson
12/1/2009 12:05:08 PM

Life is an attitude of gratitude........Thank you.

I was partially paralyzed for over four years and am running for life..............Let us all run with the challenges that are given us so we can become the people we were created to be..............

Thanks and blessings.................Your friend Jan