10 unexpected reasons to give thanks

Although for many people, Thanksgiving means family and friends and turkey and stuffing and stuffing ourselves, the day is also a reminder to give thanks. This Thanksgiving, take a second to be thankful for a few things you might not have considered blessings:

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10 Unexpected Reasons to Give Thanks

Forget the turkey This Thanksgiving, be thankful for a few things you might not consider

blessings but should

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Although for many people, Thanksgiving means family and friends and turkey and stuffing and stuffing ourselves, the day is also a reminder to give thanks

This Thanksgiving, take a second to be thankful for a few things you might not have

considered blessings:

1 Failure.

For most of us, failure isn't the end of the world Failure is just the end of an idea or a possibility

or a dream When we fail, we can move on to something else, with luck a little wiser and a lot more likely to succeed

For some, though, failure means going without or worse, possibly forcing their children to go without

Failure sucks, but never being able to take a chance on your skills, your experience, and your vision is much, much worse

Be thankful you have the opportunity to fail on terms you at least partly set Many people do not

2 Criticism.

People criticize only when they care While people still care about you or your business, you have the opportunity to do something better, to do something differently, to change their minds or to just meet in the middle

Apathy is much, much worse

3 Sadness.

When you're sad, that means you care, and caring is the mother of changing things for the

better

Apathy is much, much worse

4 Respect.

Think of people you admire Think of people who have earned your trust and esteem

Be thankful those people are a part of your life In fact, don't just be privately thankful Tell them how you feel

That will make them be grateful for people like you

5 Options.

You might have so many options and potential choices, both business and personal, that you feel stressed and even overwhelmed

Flip it around: Imagine how it would feel to have few, if any, options Imagine how it would feel

to have few, if any, viable choices

Be thankful you have options the more, the better

6 Struggle.

Not unintentional struggle Intentional struggle: like choosing to work incredibly hard or to push

through a mental or physical barrier or to make sacrifices for the good of the people who rely

on you

When you struggle and fight and endure, you not only stretch the limits of what you believe you are capable of, but you also sometimes enter a state of grace that you find only when you strip away what is truly nonessential (which turns out to be most of what you worry about) Struggling helps you learn who you really are and who you really want to be

7 Delay.

Remaining patient is rarely fun, but having to wait can be a good thing

For example, research shows that where vacations are concerned, the biggest boost in

happiness comes from planning to get away And this vacation anticipation boosts happiness for an average of eight weeks

After the vacation, though, happiness levels quickly drop to baseline levels usually within days Soon the people who went on a vacation were no happier than the people who had not

Be thankful you need to wait especially for something you really want The anticipation alone

is worth it

Besides, waiting for what you want not what you need, but what you want is a luxury only those who are already blessed can afford

8 Regret.

Think about something you wish you had done better Or handled differently Or think about something you wish you had done but for whatever reason, you didn't

Painful? Sure And motivating

Use that motivation today Call a friend you've lost touch with Mend fences with a family

member Be the bigger person and say you're sorry Do something you wish you had done You'll be thankful you did

9 Family.

Take a look around the table I know: Uncle Johnny is overbearing Aunt Shirley can't stay out

of anyone's business Your brother resents you, and your mom can't stop babying you

They can be terrible and you'll miss them terribly when they're gone Smile, see the good in each of them, and be glad you have a family

Many people would love to have a terrible family like yours

10 This moment.

Because you have the time and resources to do something like reading this post, that means

you have time: to improve yourself, to consider new ideas, to try to be a better person, to build

better relationships with family and friends

Time is our most important asset and what we should all be most thankful for Time makes everything else possible

Don't waste it

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he

worked his way up in the manufacturing industry Everything else he picks up from

ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in

business @jeff_haden