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Today’s post will be short so that I have more time to prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you are reading this, you have a lot to be thankful for — especially the presence of mind to be able to read this.

As a writer, you mind is one of your most valuable assets — to some degree it goes neck-to-neck with time. At this time of the year, when many are giving thanks for friends, family, food on the table and a roof over their head, maybe you should consider giving thanks for these things that all writers have:

Talent. You must have some talent, even if it is learned, to be a good writer.

Skill. Writing is as much a skilled craft as it is an art. To be a good writer you must have skill — and constantly be improving it.

Creativity. Whether you write non-fiction or fiction, creativity is at the heart of your talent.

Life. You couldn’t be reading this if you weren’t alive. Unless, of course you’re the undead, but that’s another matter.

Passion. If you consider yourself a writer, then you have passion. No one would do this to themselves if they didn’t have a passion for it.

I’m sure you can come up with more. In fact, I challenge you to post comments to this post listing what you are thankful for. Maybe we can each inspire each-other to be thankful for all the gifts we have and have to offer.

O.K. On the one hand, this post might be better off in the “Body Blog,” but I’ve decided to put it here because the emphasis is not on the exercise but on how exercise affects you mind.

There are two reasons why you will feel better and clear your mind when you are working out on a regular basis.

1. Exercise is going to stimulate the release of different types of hormones that will help to regulate your mood and make you feel relaxed.

2. Doing exercises will ease your reaction to daily stress in your life. You will help clear your head from your problems and worries that are dragging you down and filling your mind with stress and anxiety.

There are a few different ways that you can use a great workout to clear your mind — and help you feel good about your body and your health too. Relaxing is a very important, and if you cannot relax, you are going to find that you may end up with more and more health problems. Which, in turn, makes you feel bad about yourself and what you are doing.
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Given the current state of Hollywood and, to some extent, even publishing, one might be tempted to ask, “Are there still original ideas in the world?” Despite the old adage that there is nothing new under the sun, I believe there is. To be original doesn’t necessarily mean to be new — just different, a unique expression of your perspective.

Then there’s the situation where you feel that someone else has beaten you to some bright idea. Well take that idea and tweak it again into something original.

And don’t even get me started on those who wine about past failures: “I’ve failed many times before. I can’t think of anything else to solve this problem anymore.” Boo hoo.

These statements reflect the thought of someone who has given up on creativity. Sadly, a lot of people share this way of thinking. They never viewed creativity as a very useful tool to improve or improvise in life in all its diversity.
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What have you been reading lately? As a writer, this is a very important question. You need to be feeding your mind lots of good stuff to prime that creative pump. Another question you should think about is are you a wide reader?

In a gathering, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others. I’ve heard many writers give talks, and being a wide reader has been at the top their list of priorities.

Reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it as one of the satisfying pleasures of humans, for it involves physical as well as mental activities.
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