I’m getting ready for Thanksgiving. It’s more of a mental preparation than a physical one. I’m not buying the Turkey. I’m not the one planning a menu. It’s not up to me to do the grocery shopping. And I’m definitely not dusting the shelves in my house before company comes over.

Getting ready requires me to think about being thankful. It is the one time of year when we’re supposed to hunker down on gratitude, no matter what the college football playoffs look like. This is that one day when we look at our circle of friends and make a list of all the reasons that we are grateful to have them in our lives, even the “special” ones.

This is not always an easy task.

For some, this is the first holiday to come after a death in the family. You leave the cemetery and already you’re thinking, “Dad won’t be here for Thanksgiving.”

I remember the empty chair at my table after Beth passed away. I had three months to get ready for Thanksgiving. We made it through. We didn’t physically have an empty chair at the table but there was certainly an empty spot in our hearts. I really had to prep myself for the “thanks” that year.

Somewhere there’s a young mama with two kids to take care of by herself. Life didn’t work out like she planned. She’s making a go of it alone. It feels like there’s more reason to be angry than to be grateful.

Just inside a kitchen window, right now, there’s an elderly woman sitting by herself. She had a son once upon a time, but he wore the uniform. He took a vow to defend this country. He never came home. She’s not even sure she’ll turn on the stove on Thanksgiving Day. Why bother?

You name it. Life is good at getting in the way of being thankful.

To counter all the hurt and sorrow, you might think that I’m going to give you a list of things to remind you that you do have people and opportunities in your life for which to be grateful this Thanksgiving. You might expect me to make a pitiful attempt at painting word pictures of cute puppies, or sunsets on the beach, or cuddly babies with spit-up on their chin.

I’m not going to do that for two reasons. One is that you are quite capable of making your own list. You’re a grown-up who knows how to think for yourself. Secondly, I would never stoop so low as to use some premeditated manipulation of your emotions against you, no matter how cute the puppy.

I’m thinking more about the “why” question. What difference does it make? Why is showing gratitude so important when it’s so much easier to keep to myself and move on?

To answer that question, I have enlisted the help of my research team. First, I consulted the internet. Apparently, being grateful is psychologically tied to a healthier life. If you live each day thankful for something, you sleep better, your relationships improve, and your smile becomes wider when you pose for selfies.

That alone might be reason enough to live gratefully.

I did further research. The internet is too easy, too impersonal. I need something more than advice from Wikipedia. I want real stories and real words from real people.

I scrolled through my contact list on my phone. True story. I scanned the names looking for people who might have some insights on this subject. I wanted some fresh wisdom on gratitude. I wanted to get their insights and personal thoughts on what being grateful means.

I also selected people whom I thought would be up before daylight so that my text wouldn’t annoy them. This may have been my main determining factor in soliciting their help with this article.

You should know that these are real people with honest words about being thankful. Most of them are retired or close to it. That doesn’t guarantee wisdom, but it does mean that there’s a few miles of experience behind what they say.

I promised not to reveal names, so I’ll just go with regional ID’s.

Jekyll Island, Georgia: “I truly believe that genuine, heartfelt happiness comes from being thankful.”

You see, I think a lot of people have forgotten how good it feels to be thankful because they’ve been unhappy for so long. They don’t realize that a big part of the cure for despair is to find one thing that makes you grateful. It doesn’t have to be much. You hold on to that one thing. You block out everything else. And your heart begins to change.

Somewhere near Dublin, Georgia: “Being thankful makes you a sweeter and better individual.”

You catch more flies with honey. It’s that simple. You keep more friends when your heart is sweet, and they enjoy being around you more when you show how thankful you are for their friendship.

Orrville, Ohio: “It’s easy to be cynical, but being thankful changes your attitude toward being hopeful and positive.”

Yessir! It is so easy to be pessimistic about this holiday. Like I said earlier, life is not paved with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. You could just let this Thursday run your life into the ground. Or. . .you could be thankful for something and surprisingly find out that hope is alive, and that possibilities do exist.

The mountains of Tennessee: “I wasted a lot of years being sour on life, and now some of the people I’m most grateful for are gone.”

Tough but true. If you let your chance to say “thank you” slip away, the opportunity to show gratitude goes with it, and sometimes it’s gone forever.

East of the Mississippi: “My grandparents raised me, and I remember them saying a thousand times: Being grateful don’t cost you anything. Being ungrateful might cost you everything.”

Life is too precious to treat it with cheap disregard. It only takes a few moments to say the words, to act on an impulse, to offer a kindness in return, to show someone how grateful you are to have them in your life. When you let gratitude drive your thoughts and actions, when being grateful becomes your focus, everyday has the potential to be the best day ever.

So, there you have it.

I hope that gratitude comes naturally to you, but if you have to make yourself grateful this year, that’s okay. Forced gratitude is not fake, it’s just hard. It’s like a handshake or a hug after a fight. You may not want to offer it, but once you do, you feel better about it.

This is me conjuring up a little gratitude. Thanks for reading GB. Thanks for all the encouragement in my life. Thanks to some of you for hanging around since my Hampton days. Thanks for making my life rich and full. Thanks to new friends and old ones. Thanks to the One who makes it all possible.

I hope your turkey thaws out in time. Please keep your dressing moist and your gravy hot.

And by all means, get a nap.