On Thanksgiving and all around the year, we can be thankful for what we didn't even ask for. Let me explain.

There are numerous blessings showered upon us all day long that we didn't consciously request. Desires we didn't express, prayers we didn't say, wishes we didn't make that were answered anyway. For example...

When we turn the shower on and hot water pours out... let's acknowledge that!

When we go to the store and there is food to purchase... remember during the pandemic when some shelves were empty!

When we put our key in the ignition and our car starts... wow, that's nice!

When we easily breathe, talk, walk, smile, eat day after day... if you've ever had health issues, you know that these are big blessings!

There are so many simple but profoundly important blessings that we may not ask for and yet they happen anyway.

But, we often just expect things to happen. And, since we expected them, we take them for granted. We don't necessarily notice and appreciate how valuable they are to us. We may even be so focused on the relatively few things that are NOT going so well for us at this moment that we totally miss all that IS happening in our favor.

Instead, it's good practice to consciously be aware of and appreciate our blessings. This practice can fill us with tremendous happiness, security and peace, knowing that life is constantly supporting us. Life is not happening to us, but for us! And that feels really good!...

Each year at Thanksgiving, we're reminded to be thankful for our incredible blessings in our lives. This year, we realized we've been taking this huge blessing for granted: our freedom.

We've been blessed to be living in the United States for decades. This country was founded on the freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and more. In fact, we have freedoms here that people in other countries don't enjoy. We're free to wear whatever we want (not the case in Saudi Arabia), we're free to access information (not the case in China), we're free to own property (not the case in Nigeria), and we're even free to chew gum (not the case in Singapore)! Plus, we have laws protecting us from discrimination, thus protecting our freedoms regardless of race, sex or religion.

This Thanksgiving, my wife Nicole and I are especially thankful for our parents whose courage brought us to the United States in the first place. Nicole is a child of immigrants from Iran and I myself fled Iran with my family at the age of nine. After an 8-month voyage through multiple countries, we finally made it to the land of the free. Our parents, and so many others like them, took an enormous risk to leave their homelands for the United States with its promise of liberty and opportunity. We are thankful for them today. We're also realizing that it's up to each of us to peacefully fight for the freedom we have enjoyed on a daily basis. 

What's blocking the way of our...