With all of the fear and shock that has come round with this election cycle, I do not think that Thanksgiving could have come at a better time. With all of the fear, it is good to take a second to get some perspective and think about all that we do have in our country.

The Economy

While some disappointment about the economic situation may have been a driving force in electing Trump, and there are certainly some negative indicators, we do have a lot to be thankful for living in America’s economy. We have the highest Gross Domestic Product of any country in the world – which means that we have the most market value of all final goods and services produced in a given year. America certainly has a lot of money to go around.

On top of that, we do benefit from good infrastructure – with running water, good roads, waste disposal and clean cities. While having money in the country and basic needs met might be setting the bar low in some people’s eyes, we do have a lot to be thankful for in that regard in comparison to other nations. And while one can find negative statistics about America’s economy, there still is lots of good and we are not far away (hopefully) from realizing even more economic growth.

The Election

Sure, this may not be something that everyone is universally thankful for, but all things considered it could have been lot worse. Luckily, we did not have any vote recounts or legal challenges to the legitimacy of the election results. We avoided having any paralysis or fear over the unknown of who would be the next president – it was a clear-cut victory with no major legal challenges.

Also, we can be incredibly thankful to live in a country where there is a peaceful transition of power. Despite all the Biden memes, President Obama is not going to fight Trump to retain control of the presidency, no military coup will occur, and power will transition over into the hands of the next leaders peacefully from a democracy standpoint. While there has been some violence and discrimination breaking out among citizens, we can be thankful that the same violence or worse is not occurring between our politicians.

Everything Else

And perhaps more than abstract things about our country, I am sure that most of us have families and friends that enrich our lives more than the economy or any election ever could. It hopefully is helpful to reflect on that and be thankful, rather than being fearful of the things that could go possibly wrong. Because if we do truly stop to think about it, hopefully we will find that we have much more to be thankful about than fearful for.