We all have a lot for which to give thanks

In seemingly every culture and nation, gratitude is central to the pursuit of a happy, serene and moral life.

The most powerful prayers, entreaties and meditations are often centered on thanks.

Today, in the United States, many of us find ourselves with so much to be thankful for. Yet our attitude too often strays far from the path of gratitude. We can be covetous, grumpy, selfish and irritable. We may feel put upon, stressed, resentful that others have more, fearful that we may soon have less.

Everyone has a gratitude list, and everyone’s list is different. Answering polls, many Americans say the nation is on the wrong track and fear others are faring poorly, even as they say they themselves are prospering. It’s a perplexing perspective: widespread gloom even when it flies in the face of personal prosperity, stability and health.

But even on a broad societal level, there is so much to appreciate:

• The United States is at peace, a fact worthy of more attention than it generally garners. Military families are not stressed by dangerous deployment and violent death, and the national mood is calmer for it.
• Unemployment is low, and the labor shortage is hiking wages after decades of stagnation.
• Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation has effective vaccines to lessen both disease transmission and symptom severity. We’ve developed effective treatments for those infected by the virus, and the combination of vaccine and treatment has increasingly kept hospitalization and death counts down.
• We completed a national election with no widespread threats of violence and a broad sense among winners and losers and supporters on both sides that the process was honest. That's not necessarily something that would have been on our list a decade ago, but we met the challenge. 
• Inflation, though shockingly high, seems to be easing. The economy has shown durability.

It’s usually easy to grasp the blessings visible around our Thanksgiving table, to know we are graced with loved ones, abundant food, comfortable surroundings, and reasons for joy.

But we are also blessed, as a region, as a society and as a nation, to be living in a time of peace and comfort and opportunity and plenty. We all have our challenges, as does our nation broadly, and many are truly struggling, but it does no disservice to the hardships of others to be grateful for our many blessings. 

We at Newsday are particularly grateful for your engagement with our journalism and for your loyalty.

We can be thankful for both the forest and trees. Both are beautiful, both bring shelter and joy, and both can, when acknowledged, alter our minds in so many happy ways.