Thanksgiving this year brought with it the usual admonitions to be grateful. Listeners to NPR heard about recent studies by UC Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons wsho has made a science out of Thanksgiving.
In the past decade, his research has shown that people
who count their blessings -- not just on the fourth Thursday of
November each year, but in daily gratitude journals -- exercise more
regularly, complain of fewer illness symptoms and feel better about
their lives overall.
Compared with those who chronicle daily hassles, people who take time
instead to record their reasons for giving thanks also feel more
loving, forgiving, joyful, enthusiastic and optimistic about their
futures. Their family and friends report that they seem happier and are
more pleasant to be around.
"Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change people's lives," Emmons says.
The following video presents in a poignant way some of the things 
many of us have to be grateful for....and some of the things so many of us still must suffer. View
