Today and Everyday.

Thanksgiving.

I love Thanksgiving, and I love what is stands for.

A day dedicated to expressing thanks and gratitude for all we have.

But why don't we extend our one day of gratitude to every day?

Being thankful is a choice.

I think it's a choice we should make every single day.

No matter how hard life gets, for every one thing we can find reason to complain about, there are at least one hundred things we can be grateful for.

"We can choose to be grateful, no matter what." -President Uchtdorf

I choose to be grateful.

But looking at my life, I wonder how I could ever choose anything else?

I have an amazing family; they're my whole world, and I know I couldn't make it through this life without them.

I live in a country that offers me freedom; I am free to belong to any religion I choose, to be allowed to say what I believe, to choose what I want to do and be in life.

I'm lucky enough to be a student at one of the top universities in the country; and I'm surrounded by some truly amazing and incredible talented people.

I live with five of the most kind, loving, smart, beautiful (inside and out), and amazing girls I have ever met, and they're making me a better person everyday I spend with them.

I grew up in a home where I was never left wanting or needing of anything.

I've had to endure some very hard times, but I have made it through and become stronger because of them.

I've found happiness after thinking it was lost from me forever.

And most of all,

Above all else, 

I have my older Brother, my Savior and Redeemer, Comforter and Friend,

Who loves me, 

Picks me up when I fall,

Carries me when I'm too weak to walk,

Who guides and helps me through every trial, hard time, and bad day.

I have the Gospel, a testimony and knowledge of the Truth.

And because of this, I have found relief, hope, peace, love, and true joy.

And for these things, I will be forever grateful.

And I will choose to be grateful, today and everyday.

Sincerely,

Samantha Dru