Today in America is Thanksgiving. It’s the day when we’re supposed to actively practice gratitude, and be thankful for all that we have. Yet this can be hard to do…when the specter of a World War looms, the lingering of a terrible pandemic, the reality of a recession, divided politics and so many other obstacles sit before us.

But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Look at Marcus Aurelius, in his reign and life, he knew all those things intimately, plus many other tragedies. A few years ago, a Daily Stoic reader wrote in to make an interesting observation. In Marcus’s Meditations, he is vague about some things and very specific about others. As a general rule, Marcus does not talk much about the specifics or the consequences of the plague he lived through or the grief he felt. But you know what he spends a full 10% of Meditations talking about in very clear detail? The gratitude he felt to the people who had helped him, who had inspired him, who had taught him.

It’s a lesson: Marcus was shrugging off the negative and embracing the positive. He was actively defining what he was grateful for, he was passively accepting what he could not control. And this is a great example for us to follow.

“Convince yourself that everything is the gift of the gods,” was how Marcus Aurelius put it, “that things are good and always will be.” When Epictetus talks about how every situation has two handles, this is what he means. You can decide to grab onto anger or appreciation, fear or fellowship. You can pick up the handle of resentment or of gratitude. You can look at the obstacle or get a little closer and see the opportunity.

So as you gather around your family and friends this Thanksgiving or Christmas or any other celebration you might partake in, of course, appreciate it and give thanks for all the obvious and bountiful gifts that moment presents. Just make sure that when the moment passes, as you go back to your everyday, ordinary life that you make gratitude a regular part of it. Again—not simply for what is easy and immediately pleasing, but for all of it, for every day.

We are thankful today and every day for all of you. Thank you for being a part of the Daily Stoic community, the largest group of Stoics in history!