Being Thankful

December, this time of year has always stressed me out. I get caught up in the frenzy of buying gifts and working extra in order to keep up financially.  In my line of work i have seen many people crack under the pressure and some even end their lives because in their minds, they failed.  Today, I ran into William.  William lives in a track of land sandwiched between I-95 and N.W. 14th Street in Miami.  He has a tent and a collection of found items.  His mental disease is the cause of his homelessness, but his life which is based on surviving and meeting basic life sustaining needs slapped me back into reality.   It helped me put things into perspective and to be thankful for the important things in my life... healthy kids, a roof over their heads and food on the table. Everything else is a want not a need and a balance between both is important.