Giving Thanks
I'm writing this article two days before Thanksgiving and a day after our first big snow storm of the year. My stiff muscles tell me that the hour and a half of shoveling I did yesterday morning before work was the first time I've used a couple muscle groups in a while. "Snowstorm knocks out power for thousands" read the headlines in the local paper this morning. Our house was one of them because I was wondering yesterday as I shoveled if I'd have to shave by flashlight when I finished.
With my back a little stiff, but clean shaven because our power did come back on, and in fact came back on while I was shoveling yesterday so I was able to comfortably shave yesterday too, I ponder the upcoming holiday.
Thanksgiving is just two days away. It is a holiday when we are supposed to be thankful. I sometimes wonder if people actually are thankful on Thanksgiving. Or is it just a day to cram our mouths full of anything and everything we can reach on the table in front of us as we plan the next day's shopping. After all, the experts tell us we must plan our Black Friday shopping if we want the best deals. I saw an article yesterday suggesting that you pick the store with the early bird special you want to line up at and send your spouse or others to various other places so your divide and conquer plan can yield the best after Thanksgiving bargains.
Many people, myself included, will most likely have a very busy Thanksgiving. People will be traveling or hectically preparing their homes and meals for company that will be coming over. The traveling, preparing, orchestrating the meal, dealing with clashing personalities of friends and family, cleaning up, and then preparing for the rest of the weekend, which we can't miss because after all, there are only so many more shopping days till Christmas and heaven forbid we miss the best sales, can all be physically and emotionally trying. With all of this going on, when will we take time to be thankful? After all, being thankful is something that most of us have to work at, even during the holiday that is supposed to remind us of this important act.
I think many, if not all, of us would like to be characterized as the kind of person who is thankful. Why then don't we focus on it? We should be thankful many times during the year, not just Thanksgiving, but if we can take a few moments right now during the holiday, it would be a good start.
I could start by being thankful that I am physically able to shovel snow for an hour and a half, or that I have a drive way to shovel. I am thankful that our power came back on yesterday morning, because the article in this morning's paper provided that many people were without power all day yesterday and into the night again. Wow, these are just little tiny things to be thankful for that happened in the last twenty-four hours. What if I stop and think about the real important things I am thankful for? What are you thankful for?
If you want to be more thankful, and I am suggesting that we all should be more thankful, you must set aside time to reflect on those things to give thanks for. In our fast paced life, if we don't stop and take the opportunity to give thanks and reflect on those things we are thankful for our days, weeks, months, and years will fly past and we will miss giving thanks and being thankful and then it will be too late.
During that time of reflecting, ask yourself what you can be thankful for. Don't bemoan about those things you want, but rather look to what you already have. Many of us take a lot of things for granted. Give thought to your blessings and be thankful. And if you are thankful for other people in your life, tell them. Tell friends and family, those you love and care about, how much they mean and that you are thankful for having them in your life.
Take a few moments this Thanksgiving holiday to be thankful. Be sure to take the time to let others know how thankful you are to have them. Take the time to visit them, call them, or write them a note. Make sure they know what they mean to you.
Once you have started this habit on Thanksgiving, wouldn't it be a shame if you were only thankful one Thursday every November? Why not be thankful more often? Many of us have much more good fortune than we think about. We often focus on the negative and forget the blessings. Let's all remember to count those blessings and give thanks. Let's all be more thankful. Not just this Thanksgiving, but throughout all of our years.
Wishing you the Happiest of Thanksgivings and the warmest of thoughts throughout the year!
With my back a little stiff, but clean shaven because our power did come back on, and in fact came back on while I was shoveling yesterday so I was able to comfortably shave yesterday too, I ponder the upcoming holiday.
Thanksgiving is just two days away. It is a holiday when we are supposed to be thankful. I sometimes wonder if people actually are thankful on Thanksgiving. Or is it just a day to cram our mouths full of anything and everything we can reach on the table in front of us as we plan the next day's shopping. After all, the experts tell us we must plan our Black Friday shopping if we want the best deals. I saw an article yesterday suggesting that you pick the store with the early bird special you want to line up at and send your spouse or others to various other places so your divide and conquer plan can yield the best after Thanksgiving bargains.
Many people, myself included, will most likely have a very busy Thanksgiving. People will be traveling or hectically preparing their homes and meals for company that will be coming over. The traveling, preparing, orchestrating the meal, dealing with clashing personalities of friends and family, cleaning up, and then preparing for the rest of the weekend, which we can't miss because after all, there are only so many more shopping days till Christmas and heaven forbid we miss the best sales, can all be physically and emotionally trying. With all of this going on, when will we take time to be thankful? After all, being thankful is something that most of us have to work at, even during the holiday that is supposed to remind us of this important act.
I think many, if not all, of us would like to be characterized as the kind of person who is thankful. Why then don't we focus on it? We should be thankful many times during the year, not just Thanksgiving, but if we can take a few moments right now during the holiday, it would be a good start.
I could start by being thankful that I am physically able to shovel snow for an hour and a half, or that I have a drive way to shovel. I am thankful that our power came back on yesterday morning, because the article in this morning's paper provided that many people were without power all day yesterday and into the night again. Wow, these are just little tiny things to be thankful for that happened in the last twenty-four hours. What if I stop and think about the real important things I am thankful for? What are you thankful for?
If you want to be more thankful, and I am suggesting that we all should be more thankful, you must set aside time to reflect on those things to give thanks for. In our fast paced life, if we don't stop and take the opportunity to give thanks and reflect on those things we are thankful for our days, weeks, months, and years will fly past and we will miss giving thanks and being thankful and then it will be too late.
During that time of reflecting, ask yourself what you can be thankful for. Don't bemoan about those things you want, but rather look to what you already have. Many of us take a lot of things for granted. Give thought to your blessings and be thankful. And if you are thankful for other people in your life, tell them. Tell friends and family, those you love and care about, how much they mean and that you are thankful for having them in your life.
Take a few moments this Thanksgiving holiday to be thankful. Be sure to take the time to let others know how thankful you are to have them. Take the time to visit them, call them, or write them a note. Make sure they know what they mean to you.
Once you have started this habit on Thanksgiving, wouldn't it be a shame if you were only thankful one Thursday every November? Why not be thankful more often? Many of us have much more good fortune than we think about. We often focus on the negative and forget the blessings. Let's all remember to count those blessings and give thanks. Let's all be more thankful. Not just this Thanksgiving, but throughout all of our years.
Wishing you the Happiest of Thanksgivings and the warmest of thoughts throughout the year!
posted by Alain @ 11:06 AM
1 Comments:
At 10:55 AM,
Kitty said…
Alain, I just read your blog and enjoyed the thought jolt! It reminded me of something I used to do with the twins when they were growing up. They had little "gratitude journals" and every night before bed they wrote at least one thing they were grateful for. (sometimes it was "mom didn't make us eat all our brussel sprouts" but other times it was something very lump in throat-like.) It was a nice way to end the day. Thanks again for all your good work.
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