Sunday, November 18, 2012

Giving Thanks


Are you aware of who and what led that you to be here?
Do you know what led to you having and education?
Do you realize who to thank for grocery stores and banks?
Do you have any idea how our government was formed?

Are you aware of the leadership involved in medical care?
Do you know who leads your city government or school board?
Do you value the ways we can travel abroad and have hotels to stay in?
Do you give thanks for our highway systems, trains and buses?
Have you ever considered appreciating the airports and airlines?

Do you value the service you get in restaurants and coffee shops?
Do you know who runs the justice departments locally and nationally?
And what about the United Nations, and the many ways our nations join?
How many visionaries, leaders, managers, inventors, and doers has it taken to be here now?

Sometimes it feels like people complain about what is missing.
Sometimes it looks like everyone just wants more and more.
Sometimes it seems like folks don’t get what it takes.
Sometimes people don’t begin to appreciate how much we have.

It is our forefathers, ancestors, hardworking folks who have built what we have.
People have devoted their lives to making the government work.
People have sacrificed their lives to keep their nations and cities safe.
People have given all their resources to building businesses and homes.

We take for granted what is ours.
We assume we deserve this and better.
We seem to believe if we are doing the bare inimimum, we deserve more.
We do not understand how much others have done and do to make things work.

Business owners and entrepreneurs often spend 24/7 on staying in business.
Being successful gives jobs to hundreds of folks and feeds their families.
Those who lead in science, education, health services and travel have created what we have.
Those who envisioned have worked hard to create the successful manifestation of that vision.

How do we honor the leaders?
How can we appreciate our parents and ancestors?
How can we remember the ones who have built our homes and schools, hospitals and airports?
How can we continue the good life that has been created for us?

We can remember and appreciate.
We can acknowledge and honor.
We can give gratitude and take care of what we have received.
We can continue the legacy of trust and freedom, good will and responsibility.
We can treat what we have with full respect and appreciation.
We can give back to those who have given.
We can encourage new leaders, visionaries and those who serve the Good of the people.
We can respect what we create and build and use.

Are you willing to encourage rather than criticize?
Are you willing to support rather than sabotage?
Are you willing to give to rather than take from?
Are you willing to remember the Good rather than accentuate the bad?

Do you value those who work in the factories and fields?
Do you give to those who serve in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and on the highways.
Do you respect the work of the politicians and government workers, the leaders in business and industry.
Do you acknowledge the history of great leaders and pioneers in your family and country and our world?

It is good to encourage more Good by giving your own gratitude and Goodness to those who Lead the way.
Betty Lue