The other night I had a dream about an evil looking tiger lurking in the shadows outside a screen door.  The tiger symbolized my unknown future of 2020, the scary outlook and potential danger. 

Listen in to today's 4 AM Daily Wake Up (micro) Podcast to see how I handled this situation. 

We conclude the 5W's of Thanksgiving with the question, WHERE are you thankful.   Short answer is, at your job, in your classroom, in your bed as you wake up, in your bed as you go to sleep, etc.   What you need to do is create your own personal space - even if you can’t find a quiet spot - create one in your head.   For me, where I practice my initial thankfulness each morning is in my bed to start off each day. I think to myself of every family member and give thanks for them being in my life.   There are no excuses here. Even if you don't think you have a place due to your circumstances,  create one in your mind.    There are many individuals behind bars that know freedom more than those of us outside of the prison walls.   Freeing your mind starts with being thankful and that’s WHERE we all need to start:  In our mind, being intentional with our thanksgiving.   You got it, now go #getit #4amDWU #knowTroy

Continuing our 5Ws of being thankful, today we talk about When are you thankful.

The thought behind this is how intentional you are in taking the time to be thankful.

Today is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday in November. That is a specific day, not date, day.

Setting aside a specific time to reflect and be thankful is being intentional with your appreciation of what or who is in your life.

For me it’s the first thing I do in the morning, before my PPR (Pray. Plan. Read). Often times after I wake up I spend 2-4 minutes being thankful for my family. I think on each one and remind myself of how thankful I am to have them in my life.

So, my when for intentionally being thankful is the first thing I do when I wake up.

Do you set aside a portion of your day to be thankful? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

#4amDWU #knowTroy  #thankful

Knowing WHY you are thankful for WHO you are thankful for and WHAT you are thankful for requires intentional thinking.

If I were to tell you how incredible you are without offering a specific the kind words may fall flat.

Specifics are important in everything we do.

If you don’t know exactly why you are thankful, it’s because you haven’t put thought to it and that's why I'm here - to PROVOKE thought.

Why are you thankful for that person in your life? Have you told them the specifics of your appreciation?

Why are you thankful for what you have? Why are you thankful for what you do?

Have you confirmed the initial thought with a supportive reason?

Take some time to think about the WHY behind your thankfulness.

#4amDWU #knowTroy #thankful

Continuing this Thanksgiving week with being thankful for all we have.

Five days. Five W's. It's a match made in Heaven!

This week we are going to discuss the following:

• Who you are thankful for

Today, I’d like you to think about what you are thankful for.

This is related to

What you have and What you do

So many times we compare what we have and what we do to others.

We look at their success, look at their accomplishments, and cry "It's not fair."

For today I’d like for you to think about what you do have and what you activates you do that you can be thankful for.