In the spirit of Thanksgiving...I have a lot to be thankful for, and I'd like to acknowledge that.

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I'm thankful for the basics: a healthy mind and body; the ability to see, hear, taste, touch and smell; a roof under which to sleep; food to eat when I'm hungry; clothing to keep me warm; a job to pay the bills.

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I'm also incredibly thankful for the people in my life: my Mom and Dad, my brother and sister-in law, my Grandmas, my Aunts, my Uncles, my cousins, my inlaws, and my friends across the globe and the ones right here in the Bay Area - you all keep me going and provide an unexplainable amount of support. Thank You.

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I'm thankful for the luxuries, of which I know I have far too many to mention, for instance, a car and two bikes to get me around town, a computer so I can stay connected to everyone and everything with admittedly unnecessary ease, a collection of books that keep me awake reading at night, and a kitchen equipped with an oven and lots of wonderful spices.

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I'm thankful that there I've generally been treated extremely fairly by the world (save a few cases involving my heart), but I'm also thankful for awareness that not everyone has been or is and I'm thankful for the drive to do something about that.

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I'm thankul for the foothills and rivers and the ocean here in Califorina; I'm thankful for the Redwoods and the Cypress and Avocado and Meyer Lemon trees; I'm thankful for a history I can access and a future I can help create.

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'Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.'