My attitude of gratitude

A few days ago my Chevy died in the left-hand turn lane on Capital Boulevard during rush hour. As a young man, such a breakdown would have left me cursing Detroit's craftsmanship and asking my creator why I deserved such adversity.

Now a wiser man, instead of lamenting my misfortune when the Tahoe decided it had gone far enough, I counted my blessings. They included having a cell phone and reaching an efficient and courteous police dispatcher. I was fortunate that the Raleigh police officer who came to my aid not only protected me from traffic but also summoned a tow truck.

My luck continued. The tow truck driver not only treated my prized SUV with kid gloves, he also accurately diagnosed the mechanical problem.

With so much good fortune on my side that day, my only regret is that I didn't buy a lottery ticket.

That experience reminded me to appreciate the many big and small things in life that I have to be thankful for. Here are just a few.

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I'm thankful for being gainfully employed and having the money to pay the towing and car repair bills.

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I'm thankful for the generosity of people living in this community. On Thursday, WPTF-AM and its sister stations in the Curtis Media Group staged the annual radio-thon for the N.C. Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill. With the down economy, the goal was to equal the $800,000 raised in 2007. We didn't come close to that. Instead, thanks to the benevolence of people throughout the state, more than $1 million was raised. It was an incredible, heartfelt response.

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I'm thankful for the Mebane Paws4Ever Shelter (formerly the Animal Protection society of Orange County) where I picked up Tony, a tennis ball-obsessed hound, and Johnny the baying beagle. It's a privately funded no-kill shelter that gets many of its occupants from local government pounds. The animals cared for there (and ready for adoption) are all top notch. The people caring for them are pretty decent, too.

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I'm thankful for David Cutcliffe, Duke University's head football coach. Cutcliffe has restored on-field respect to a program that was reduced to bragging only about its graduation rate. If Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils can beat Carolina this weekend, I will nominate the man for sainthood.

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I'm thankful for people who still dare to believe in big ideas, like Sir Richard Branson. Despite what sensible economists and naysayers tell him, he still believes space tourism will become a viable industry, and he's put his money behind those beliefs in Virgin Galactic Space Tourism Co. This winter, test flights begin on the company's mother ship, the White Knight Two. Space tourism doesn't make sense, but neither did landing on the moon decades ago, or powered flight a little more than 100 years ago. I hope Branson will be as stubborn as the Wright Brothers and John F. Kennedy were.

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I'm thankful for the free market and the beauty of supply and demand. Because of it, on Monday I paid just $1.75 for a gallon of gasoline that only a few months ago cost more than $4.

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I'm thankful for economic globalization. The innovation and competition it fosters allowed me to replace -- at a lower real price -- my broken and outdated picture tube television with a superior, flat screen, high definition model.

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I'm thankful for the Internet. Not only has it put a world of knowledge at my fingertips, it also provides me with live webcasts of Los Angeles Dodgers games.

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I'm thankful for politicians who are gracious in defeat, such as Sen. John McCain and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

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I'm thankful for my faith and an emerging generation of young priests and bishops who understand that teaching and preaching church doctrine isn't going to win them any popularity contests -- and couldn't care less.

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I'm also very thankful for people who despite the gadgets and distractions that surround us, take the time to read newspapers.

And perhaps most important, I'm thankful for the men and women in our military. They are the most selfless among us.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and say a prayer for Duke.