It’s that time of year again, Thanksgiving, and I wonder how many people are truly thankful. Says Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner”: “He prayeth best, who loveth best / All things both great and small.”

Of course, if I won the lottery, a “great thing,” I’d be very thankful and probably give most of the money to charities — my college and university, medical science and the arts. But since I don’t even buy lottery tickets, I am thankful for small things. And the small things do add up.

Money, albeit important to survive, is not all one needs to be thankful — although I was pleased that DuckPin Consignment sold a jacket of mine for $40 (I got $20) and agreed to sell my brown Brooks Brothers coat.

I am thankful to be able to walk, which is great exercise, at my close-by mall most weekday mornings. Smiling at the people I pass, even people I don’t know, and seeing them smile back is something I am thankful for. Yes, there are those who ignore everyone around them, but I am thankful I am a person who reaches out.

And, speaking of the mall, I am thankful for Marty, who comes most mornings and brings his lovely wife Sibbie in her wheelchair so she can be out among people. Since Marty reads the Times, Post and Sun, plus The New Yorker, I am assured of a stimulating conversation. Another Marty also comes to the mall daily; he loves to bake and often brings homemade desserts to share. I am thankful for The News Hour that provides balanced information. And I try not to get too agitated when people make mistakes in grammar, especially commentators on TV and radio. I am grateful for my knowledge, for being a good writer and editor, and especially for having had an educated mother who was a first-grade teacher and who taught me to read at an early age.

And, on the subject of reading, I am thankful for the Towson Library, where if I call on Sunday afternoon to reserve books I’ve read about in the New York Times book review, I often get an e-mail on Tuesday saying those books are waiting for me to pick up. Paula Miller, Baltimore County’s first female head librarian, is doing a superb job, and all avid readers should be thankful for her.

Yes, I know there is not a whole lot to be thankful for in government today, especially if one is a student or a member of the middle-class or is poor or elderly, but just the other day, our Baltimore Women’s Forum guest was Sen. Chris Van Hollen, an outstanding public servant. Chris is working hard to help the middle class, especially to save Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. Extremely knowledgeable on all government issues, Chris is warm, friendly and approachable. Actually, all Marylanders should be thankful for nearly all of our local leaders — both our senators, our governor and many of our representatives.

I am thankful for my many wonderful friends.

I am thankful when I find a good parking space.

I am thankful for so many outstanding local charitable organizations, especially those the Mission Committee of my church supports. My personal favorite is OrchKids, part of the BSO, where inner-city children learn to play musical instruments and so much more.

I am thankful for pets, especially dogs. Although I don’t own one, I have already gotten Christmas gifts for my three favorite dogs — Riptide, a 165-pound brown Newfoundland who belongs to my good friend Heather; Bella, a white Labradoodle who belongs to my neighbors Nelson and Susan; and Abbey, a golden retriever, whose owner, Mike, is my condo’s contractor.

I’ve long believed that if I do something nice for someone, someone else will do something nice for me. If everyone focused on the good things in their lives and on helping to make things better for those not as lucky, we’d always be thankful.

Like Ferdinand the bull in my favorite children’s story, if each of us takes time to smell the flowers, we will be thankful for the hyacinths in our lives.

Lynne Agress, who teaches in the Odyssey Program of Johns Hopkins, is president of BWB-Business Writing At Its Best Inc. and author of "The Feminine Irony" and "Working With Words in Business and Legal Writing." Her email is lynneagress@aol.com.