If you read the newspaper or watch the news, you may feel like there isn´t much to be thankful for. However, I doubt many of my industry peers have been impacted by this poor economy as significantly as most Americans, and it is for these people that I am writing this week. 
We can all be emotionally affected by the news. But what we read about or watch on television carries a lot less impact when the bad news isn´t happening to us.

Yes, there is a real estate adjustment going on, but it becomes a very real disaster if you are one of the many being foreclosed on, and this Thanksgiving represents your last family get-together in your current home.

The feeling of despair will never be greater for the breadwinners who look their children in the eyes and see their own failure to provide for them. The personal embarrassment and having to be “helped out” is devastating. Dreams have been shattered by the bursting real estate bubble, and many feel that they may never recover.

I have a friend who bought a home for $565,000 at the peak of the real estate craze, and I admit I encouraged her to purchase by saying, “if you don’t get in now, you won’t be able to.” At that time, it seemed like there was no end in sight, but those words have come back to haunt me.

That $565,000 home is now appraised at $320,000, and the “short sell” realtor is encouraging a $300,000 sale with the warning: “it is going to get worse, take this while you can.”

The dreams for this house and the child who was to play in its backyard are now gone, and my friend will soon be evicted or the “short sale” will proceed.

These circumstances are very real and could be happening to someone close to you, not that they would admit it. Being “happy” this Thanksgiving may take some special encouragement for many, and in a small way, you can help.

Ask yourself, what is the cost of your compassion? Remember, this economy may affect some more than others, but it still has affected us all.

It is not my place to lecture about “compassion,” but I feel as if our days are so busy that we just seem to glaze over it. Haven’t we all said, “I wish I had known?” Well this is that wake up call to “know.”

The word Thanksgiving is generally preceded by the word “happy,” and you and I can make the difference with as little as a one hundred dollar bill — something I´m sure my industry peers possess in their pockets. So take out a one hundred dollar bill and give it to the next unfortunate, yet hard working person you see. You may have to drive a bit out of your normal neighborhood to find someone worthy, but take the drive. You may see a woman with children at a bus stop, or on the way to school. They won´t be begging or looking for handouts, they will just be trying to get by. They may resist your gift, but if you look them in the eyes and say, “please take this from me so I can have a Happy Thanksgiving,” they may help you out. And your wake up call may indeed be complete.