Like most children, I enjoyed Thanksgiving.

It was a happy time when the extended family visited and lots of goodies were devoured.

My parents carefully raised me with an awareness regarding the importance of gratitude. The awareness unfortunately turned into an obsession.

As an 8-year-old I began a journal I religiously listed five items each day that I was thankful for. Years later, the journal was found as I was preparing to leave for college.

I laughed to myself as I read words such as “Anna” (our family dog), “griled chese sanwiches,” and my “beany babys.”

My 10th year brought the “thankful box.”

Gaining the idea from a magazine, I forced each person spending the holiday with my family to fill out an index card listing reasons to be thankful and place it inside an empty tissue box.

Later in the afternoon, we would sit in the living room to read the cards. As everyone seemed to enjoy the time, it became a tradition for the next few years.

I understood the importance of thankfulness, but not the process of applying it to my lifestyle.

Then I reached high school. I’m not sure what it is about those four years that ruptures the thankful spirit, but my level of gratitude definitely decreased as my attitude became sour.

I found areas that lacked perfection in myself, others and my surroundings rather than recognizing the significance of what I had, always irritated when the fourth Thursday of November rolled around.

The years since that perilous period, however, have molded me into an individual with a different perspective.

The absence of seeing my family on a constant basis and the stress that piles up has taught me a new form of thankfulness. Though I no longer keep a thankful journal, I’ve come to see that being thankful is not simply recognizing what is possessed, but a battle of choice that has and always will war in my soul.

Thankfulness is defined as “a feeling, expressing gratitude or appreciation.”

Thanksgiving Day is “a national holiday celebrated as a day of feasting and giving thanks for divine goodness, observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S.”

I came to understand that gratitude is more than an acknowledgement of blessings, it is a peaceful and positive attitude than is chosen over a negative, bitter and burdened outlook.

Thankfulness recognizes that not all is at is should be, but that we have the blessed ability to create change.

Thankfulness understands that life is a gift and that the giver is in control. Thankfulness does not live in fear, but recognizes the abundant reasons to be excited for the future. It is sound and does not shift as the seasons in the economy.

Additionally, studies have also shown that our attitudes and ideas affect the quality of life by decreasing depression and increasing longevity.

According to the July 2009 issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, 7,000 individuals partook in a personality test.

For every 100 participants, the 25 that were the most pessimistic, anxious, and depressed had a 30 percent greater chance of dying young.

In a study that lasted over 30 years, consisting of 800 people, similar results were found in which pessimistic thinkers had a 19 percent increased risk of early death.

Researchers from Duke University followed more than 2,800 patients with heart problems and found that optimists were half as likely to die over the course of the study.

“Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier and More Meaningful Lives,” by David Snowdon shows the power attitudes have in the life of each individual.

A group of nuns, ranging in age from 75 to 104, allowed themselves to undergo testing. The nuns with a positive perspective experienced a longer and more content life.

Obtaining such a life does not happen on a whim, but is developed over time. Opportunities come each day to shape the perspective. The battle first begins in the mind when thoughts of negativity arise.

These thoughts can be captured and turned away to be replaced with conscious thoughts of thankfulness.

The new thoughts are then reflected in the words, actions and attitudes which contain an individual’s character and to some degree, affect every life that crosses the individual’s path.

Today is Thanksgiving. Though genuine thankfulness may not be felt, it can be obtained.

By consciously making an effort to transform the thoughts and ideas not only on the day of gratitude, but every day, a more satisfying lifestyle awaits. Ultimately, sincerity finds a home as negativity evades.

This Thanksgiving, I will spend the day with those I love. Though life will never be perfect, I have been given the gift of life.

That’s a good reason to be thankful.