I'm Thankful For...

God's unconditional Love, being alive, living in a beautiful place in a beautiful country that values freedom of speech and worship, my loving family and friends, the sweet and constant affection of my animal friends and for all the amazing people I know, have known and look forward to meeting.

I'm especially grateful that, as an adult, I can spend time with my 97 year old grandpa Orville. Tonight, I asked Gramp to share some words of wisdom. He read the following quotes he is compiling. His list of notable authors includes Wordsworth, Einstein, Will Rogers, Ann Landers, Victor Borge, Martin Luther King, Emerson, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Durante and Thomas Jefferson:

1. The most wasted of all days is the one without laughter.
2. I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
3. You don't stop laughing just because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.
4. Each day of life in old age is like a treasure we should appreciate.
5. Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
6. Be nice to people on your way up because you might meet them on the way down.
7. Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
8. The best helping hand is the one at the end of your arm.
9. To acquire knowledge one must study, but to acquire wisdom one must observe.
10. Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.
11. Hard work spotlights the character of people. Some turn up their sleeves. Some turn up their noses. Some don't turn up at all.
12. The only way to have a friend is to be one.
13. The time is always right to do what is right.
14. The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him no good.
15. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
16. Humor is also a way of saying something serious.
17. Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
18. Sports do not build character they reveal it.
19. Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.
20. From what we get we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life.
21. The longer we live the more beautiful life becomes.
22. Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.
23. Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there.
24. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog.
25. If you are going through hell, keep going - Winston Churchhill
26. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. But walk beside me and be my friend.