Americans celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday in two days.

I’m eager to gather with family and enjoy good food and good times.

But right now I’ve paused to consider my good fortune for being born in a time and place where my willingness and ability to apply myself have taken me on a fulfilling journey I could not have imagined as a young adult. It’s been a journey where family, friends, colleagues and mentors encouraged me to get back up whenever I’ve been knocked down or disheartened.

In this spirit of gratitude and in this season of thanksgiving, please enjoy the following poem written by an unknown author:

“Being Thankful”

Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become
your blessings.

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

“The hardest arithmetic to master,” Eric Hoffer once observed in his Reflections on the Human Condition, “is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

For what are you grateful this Thanksgiving?