First of all, happy Thanksgiving to all of you reading this.

Now, I’m not going to ask you what you’re thankful for today.

First of all, after dozens and dozens of Thanksgiving, it’s become a bit of a cliche to just ask what you’re thankful for.

But more importantly, because what I’m going to talk about today is even more important…

Clarity: one of the most powerful words in the English language and one of the most powerful things to feel on a daily basis.

Clarity in life is extremely important, and as I’ll tell you in a minute, clarity is what empowers you to be thankful in the first place. How can you be thankful if you’re not clear on where your life is and what you have gratitude for?

So, the question is how do we become clear in life?

When we wake up in the morning, we appreciate.

What most people do the minute they way up is start thinking about all of the things you need to do today — and we all do it on a daily basis, because we’ve got that torture list called the to-do list.

All of the things we’ve written down the night before. All of the things we didn’t accomplish the day before. So when we wake up, a lot of people go into full-on to-do list panic mode.

The minute your eyes open, you’re thinking about everything you need to do today…

  • Watering the plants
  • Feeding the kids
  • Dealing with your boss
  • Picking up the kid after school
  • Arguing with your husband or wife

Those are just a few of the things that may come into your mind. Whether you’re single or married, when you wake up in the morning, most people wake up with a to-do list in their brain.

But I wake up differently. I wake up in a full appreciation of life.

I make sure I appreciate things in life. I give thanks to all that I have in my life.

Not just on one of the 365 days there are every year. Every single day.

It’s the first thought when I wake up.

Do I wake up and think about other things? Absolutely. I’m a human being.

But when the other things come into my head or come crawling into my mind, I make sure that I’m fully appreciating my life first.

I block out the other things and I thank the universe, God, whatever you believe in, for this amazing life that I’ve been able to participate in.

Thanks for all of the opportunities I’ve been given.

I don’t think about the opportunities I blew. I think about the opportunities I’ve been given.

Being in full appreciation of your life will enable you to truly appreciate and see all of the beauty you have in your life.

Because we all have stuff to do. But, unless you appreciate your gift called life, the stuff will start to overwhelm you, and it will start to take over you.

It will start to consume you.

Don’t get lost in your stuff.

Appreciate the gift called life. The stuff will become far easier once you’re in full appreciation of the amazing gift we call life.