Thanksgiving is a day to pause and reflect on what we have to be grateful for. For some, perhaps, it’s a chance to fortify against the onslaught of early morning sales events and an advertising blitz of items for Christmas, Hanukka, Kwanzaa or Boxing Day.

Lest I be taken for Mrs. Scrooge, let me say that I started my Christmas shopping in August, I hung my outside lights last weekend, and our living room is rearranged for me to put up our 13-foot tree. Yet with a deluge of junk mail catalogs and charity requests daily, I begin with the best of intentions to pace myself and end up frazzled by mid-December!

Perhaps that’s why it was refreshing to read an article titled “Secrets of Pronoia” in November’s issue of The Sun magazine. Author Rob Brezsny -- a bit of a character -- suggests that the opposite of paranoia (trust no one) is pronoia and that “… the world is conspiring to shower you with blessings.”

“Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment you wake up,” he begins. You breathe, your heart beats, you can see, and everything around you is about “understanding that the universe is fundamentally friendly.” So burnt toast, a flat tire or a missing button are only three out of thousands of things that happen seamlessly.

Hundreds of people have made millions of dollars writing books, giving lectures and singing songs about thinking positive, looking on the bright side and counting your blessings. We’ve heard these messages for years, but it never hurts to hear it again.

When we look back at 2005, there have been some horrific emergency response disasters. The tsunami in Indonesia was a strong message that Mother Nature can be a terrorist in her own right anywhere in the world. Her offspring -- hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma --wreaked havoc and death in the United States.

But there also was good news. Hundreds of companies like Ferrara, TFT, Fire Research and others responded to those in need. The National Volunteer Fire Council started a fund to help firefighters who lost their own homes. Fire departments from across the country responded to FEMA’s request for two-person teams and while some voiced anger at the assigned tasks, others were grateful for the opportunity to help in any way.

Our friends from the north, including the Vancouver Fire & Rescue’s USAR team, traveled to help in the response efforts. Several states teams, including Illinois, Maryland and California, were reassured of their response plans were effective when the chips were down.

FIRE Grants continue to be issued. The National Fire Academy continues to offer classes and a former fire chief is the acting FEMA director.

The mantra for this holiday season: We have faith, we have health, and have gratitude for our friends.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving weekend.