W e make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give - Winston Churchill.

On being thankful and having gratitude. Next Thursday citizens of the United States celebrate Thanksgiving.

I've always thought that the entire concept was a good idea.

Every country, including Bermuda, should set aside a day just for feeling overwhelming gratitude for being here. What do you think?

Of course, the original premise of the entire day culled from traditional lore of long ago in the US has been thoroughly media managed.

Those homey, nostalgic feelings are still nurtured ad infinitum by advertisers hoping to capitalize on the culture of the day and the consummate shopping that will follow in anticipation of Christmas.

The day after Thanksgiving has almost become more important than the event itself.

The original Thanksgiving was celebrated for some very different reasons than it is today. Four-hundred years ago, they were celebrating survival and togetherness.

Today the celebration is far more focused on surfeit, consumption and excess, not that we don't need these urges to drive economic engines. But, don't you think the whole consumption mantra has become too much, just far too much?

We don't know how thankful many US residents will feel next week as the country, burdened by war costs, leveraged debt, depreciating home equity, and a weakened dollar, appears to be heading into another recession.

Our tiny successful island economy

We aren't there though; we are here, and we need to stop for a few minutes and consider what we should be extremely grateful for.

Opportunities for employment - seven jobs for every five residents - how lucky can you get? This means you have a choice to make your own opportunities.

Mandatory health insurance - if you work. Forty-five million Americans have no health insurance at all, among them are more than 12 million children.

This means all the basic things just get ignored: no dental care, rotten teeth, no immunisations, more chances of contracting deadly diseases.

It is no secret that infant mortality rate in the US is infamously shameful.

Mandatory pensions. Again the statistics in many highly advanced countries are horrendous: high percentages have no pensions at all except old age survival rations, hardly enough to buy margarine for your bread, let alone butter.

Yet we have become indifferent to this wonderful benefit while most of us don't even pay any attention to what your pension contains or how it is performing.

Inexpensive and accessible bus services - In many parts of the US, particularly rural areas there are no buses, no taxis, no trains, no nothing.

If you don't own a working car, you are doomed because without transportation you cannot get out to your job, find a job, or even collect welfare.

As local residents we tend to be critical, cynical, and negative without measure about 'what we have to put up with' just to live here, yet our visitors routinely call our lifestyle "living in paradise."

Are our expectations just too high? Have we become so accustomed to living the good life that we no longer think it is?

You have not lived until you have had to knock off work at 8.30 at night, scrape four inches of ice layers off your car, and hope you can make it home in sub-zero weather without the battery giving out.

Even now, with the level of violence higher than it has ever been, you can still seek help from friendly courteous Bermudians who have been known to drive tourists to airports and pick up fallen bikers off the road, often hauling them into the emergency room.

Most ordinary people still have honest intent; wallets are returned intact, sometimes, although not always.

In a personal note, SalesStars.com author states, "In my own life, I often find that most good that has happened to me in my life is the direct result of the actions of other people. Unfortunately, most of the bad things have been my own darn fault."

I don't know about you, but this Thanksgiving, I'm trying to include a special thanks for the important people in my life — those people who bend over backwards to try and help me achieve success in all the various segments of my life.

This Thanksgiving if you give thanks at all, perhaps it is time to give thanks for our right to choose to live simply or otherwise, in an extraordinary place and time in history.

Finally, the well-earned Gratitude Gesture. A grateful thank you is way overdue to those corporations who have brought their business to this Island.

Yes, we know it is a great place, but consider this: every single one of us living here has had our finances and our futures directly or indirectly influenced by the role of the insurance industry.

I encourage you to pick up the phone next week and call just one insurance/re-insurance company.

Thank them for bringing their business to Bermuda. I not only ask you to show your gratitude, I dare you to have the courage to take this initiative. By the way, leaving the message at the switchboard is just fine.

Let's see just how many of you can make that commitment. We can make a difference, every single one of us, in our small way. Let them know you are grateful. Do it now!

Martha Harris Myron CPA -NH1929, CFP® -67184 (US licenses) is a dual citizen (US and Bermuda). She is a Senior Wealth Manager at Argus Financial Limited, specializing in comprehensive financial solutions and investment advisory services for individual private clients and their families, business owners, endowments and trusts. DirectLine: 294 5709 Confidential email can be directed to mmyron@argusfinancial.bm

The article expresses the opinion of the author alone. Under no circumstances is the content of this article to be taken as specific individual investment advice, nor as a recommendation to buy/ sell any investment product. The Editor of the Royal Gazette has final right of approval over headlines, content, and length/brevity of article.