Happy Belated Thanksgiving (or happy ordinary day in the States)
This gratitude list is probably not like most you may encounter on the internet about this time. My list is in part hopefully just like yours. These may differ.
I’m thankful for daylight all day instead of the fifteen minutes at yard.
I’m thankful I can turn the lights off and on when I need.
I’m thankful I can eat with more than a spoon.
I’m thankful I can walk outside in every direction for as far as I like.
I’m thankful I can see trees and squirrels and traffic and birds and buildings and on and on.
I’m thankful I can dress in whatever I dare to choose.
I’m thankful I can eat mostly what I like instead of whatever they plop on the tray.
I’m thankful I can see and touch my family and friends whenever we choose.
I’m thankful I can experience hot and cold outside of the shower.
I’m thankful I can live with my pets.
I’m thankful I have control over the noise I experience.
I’m thankful I can eat when I’m hungry instead of by a clock.
I’m thankful I can communicate beyond a letter and stamp and without someone reading it first.
I’m thankful I can sit on comfortable furniture.
I’m thankful I have as much privacy as I need and want.
I’m thankful I can vote and enroll.
I’m thankful I can choose the channel on my TV.
I’m thankful there is a door on my bathroom.
I’m thankful I can brew real coffee.
I’m thankful my shoes have laces.
I’m thankful I can access my bed and pillow without someone’s command and key.
I’m thankful I can wear a watch or any form of decoration or declaration.
I’m thankful I can play cards for fun instead of to pass time.
I’m thankful I don’t have to live with 20 other people.
I’m thankful there are no video cameras surveilling me when I walk from the kitchen to the bathroom.
I’m thankful I’m not locked in a space where violence is probable.
I’m thankful I don’t have to wait to use the phone or for my medication.
I’m thankful my toilet has a seat and my toilet paper is two ply.
I’m thankful my juice doesn’t come in a foil topped cup.
I’m thankful I can see and manipulate my food before it is cooked.
I’m thankful I don’t have to rely as much on memories.
I’m thankful getting out of bed doesn’t involve the person on the bunk below.
I’m thankful the uniforms I encounter are from Tim Horton’s
I’m thankful that when I go beyond the walls of my home I am not handcuffed or shackled.
I’m thankful people don’t work shifts to watch me.
I’m thankful I can sleep with someone in my bed and my dog beside it.
I’m thankful I have a door people can knock on.
I’m thankful I don’t have to sign in and out or carry a notebook to record where I am.
I’m thankful anniversaries don’t involve the Ontario Review Board.
I’m thankful I can sit in the front seat when I go places.
I’m thankful you finished reading my thankful list.
Brett Batten 
freedom–a wonderful thing to be thankful for
Like many things, most noticeable when it is gone.
so true
I am thankful to read your blog.
Thank you Stephanie, I will be back to yours.
very very thought provoking
Thank you. It made me think as well.
Happy belated Thanksgiving, and thank you for stopping by my blog.
I’m always amazed at the different stories and lives you can come across while browsing blogs and am very happy our paths have crossed!
Looking forward to reading your posts 🙂
Thanks Gwen, it’s nice to get a glimpse into each others lives. It may be electronic but I would argue it’s sometimes more real than what we encounter on the street. I’m looking forward to hearing more of your stories as well.
Thank you for inspiring me to look for even more things to be grateful for, most especially the degree of freedom I enjoy. Bless You.
Sometimes when were made to sit in the corner we can see things the rest of the class can’t. I’m glad my list was meaningful to you and may you always be blessed with freedom.
hi, i have nominated you for the one lovely blog award!:-) http://wp.me/p2vEwW-Zt
Thanks very much for the nomination. Your visit to my blog is award enough. Thanks, Brett
Sadly beautiful…wonderful to live with such gratitude but sad it came at such a cost.
Thank you. Had I made it through at half the price I might not value my purchase. Being thick in the head I marvel at those whose gratitude came without instruction.
Very inspiring and how very true. One who has the freedom of choices and can do wonders, great post! You should be grateful all the time! 🙂
In truth I am not always grateful but I could be simply by stopping and thinking. We complain about not knowing what to make for supper while the fridge is full. What is a chore to some is a gift to others. When I take a shower do I think about those without clean water…not always. The list for me of what I could be grateful for is only limited by my vision of reality.
Well, that’s true. We sometimes don’t even think about the things we really should be thankful for! Guess, we just need to work harder on this and try to be more grateful in near future 🙂
Hi Brett. I am thankful for reading through this post and comments. Now what was I going to make a comment about ?? 😉 Take care. Ralph
Thanks Ralph,
I’m happy to know you enjoyed the post and that it took your words away 🙂 I hope things are good with you. Brett
Fabulous thanks Brett. Have a lovely week. Ralph
So many things one takes for granted…!
I would be frightened to see all that I take for granted. We can all make a list but most of us are unaware of how long that list could be.
This is a fantastic list! I am thankful to be able to read it! We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in London UK but we should be thankful every day not just on the one day! Ute x
Hi Ute,
I am surprised to know the British do not celebrate Thanksgiving. I agree we should be thankful everyday. It really is a mindset. I could make several lists but the best part is when we feel it. When we can be genuinely thankful for something as simple as a meal it nourishes the soul.
Actually I live in Britain but I am German, but all my British friends do not celebrate it either. Practising gratitude is not common. ” What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday”, I love this quotes and it makes you think.:-)
Wow, that’s an awesome quote. I would be a different person if I only had what I have thanked God for. There would be people who would disappear from my life and I would be on the street naked and hungry. I will carry that quote in my pocket…thank you.
it is really effective, was about to cry