When life is good, it’s easy to be thankful for what you have. But when you’re looking out at life through glasses which have taken on a decidedly ruddy brown cast rather than a cheerful rose, it can be a little more difficult to find anything to be thankful about. Of course, those are the times when it is perhaps most important to take stock, and give a word of thanks for what you do have.

This past year has been a tough one for many of us. Whether it is societal woes like layoffs, business closures, unemployment, foreclosures and war, or personal struggles with sickness and disease, alcohol and substance abuse, depression, the end of relationships – I think it’s safe to say that there have been a lot of dark days in 2009.

Despite that grim reality, pinpricks of light show through. They are the small bits of kindness, the power of friendships, the familial ties which give us hope and get us through those dark hours. They also give us reason to give thanks.

This year, it’s not an easy exercise even for me. Far too many of my friends and family have been touched by the tough economic times. Cancer, too, has struck close to home. But I know that, despite all of that, there is plenty in my life to be thankful for.