6 / DECEMBER 2021 PRIME
Giving Thanks By Lois Stephens
R
esearch suggests that one way to a happier, more peaceful life is to count our blessings every day, to realize just how fortunate we are, and to appreciate the many small joys and pleasures we experience on a daily basis.
fabulous friends and neighbors throughout my life journey that helped smooth rough passages and portions of my passage through this earth. I now live in an area just made for my mentality and lifestyle, so how can it get any better than that?
I know how lucky I am. I may fail to remind myself on a daily basis of all the goodness I enjoy, but I know that I have so much to be grateful for. I’m healthy and always have been; I have been able to make my own way with honest work, I have received the gift of
Regardless of time of year, I am truly blessed, not only because I have more than enough to eat, a warm house, plenty of clothing to keep me warm and dry, good friends and neighbors, extraordinary coworkers, but also because of the area I live in. My lifestyle
and this area have combined to make me one of the luckiest people I know. Gratefulness can center around a lifestyle, a career, a family, or all of the above. I am truly thankful for all I have, and in my case, when I feel so much gratitude and give thanks, for the most part it centers around living the lifestyle that gives me pleasure. Small activities that I generally take for granted remind me how lucky I am. For instance, my sister now lives in Washington State. In order for her to walk her dogs, go
snowshoeing, pick berries, ride her bike, or engage in any sort of outdoor activities, she needs to get in a vehicle and drive literally miles to reach an appropriate spot for her outdoor activity. Sometimes it takes as long to reach the destination and return home as it does to enjoy the reason for the outing in the first place. Yes, she can walk miles on an abandoned railroad track by her house, but that track meanders through home sites, business property, and towns, and lies only a hundred feet from a
