In America today, I don’t think there are many more questions that might be more important to consider on a deep level. Although Thanksgiving is certainly a time for celebration and time with friends and family enjoying good food and the start of the year-end holiday season, there is a deeper “soul” to this day that often gets buried beneath the football games and “Black Friday deals” and “turkey comas” and the persistent, maybe pernicious, commercialization of this particular holiday.
To be thankful. Genuinely, deeply and consciously thankful. Filled with gratitude and appreciation for all that we have in our lives that is good and all that is missing in our lives that could make things so much more difficult. I am so thankful for the people I know and love in my life. I am so thankful for all the amazing experiences life has offered me. I am also thankful that I have never had to battle any significant disease. I am so thankful that my six year old nephew searches me out in the morning just to give me hugs. I am thankful I don’t live in a war zone. I am thankful that I am me and I am thankful that I have opportunities to help others. I am thankful that when I truly think about everything that I have to be thankful about I begin to cry.
What is Thanksgiving to me? It is not football. It is not turkey. It is not shopping. It is not even really family. Thanksgiving to me is simply having a few moments, today and every day I inhabit this Earth, to know (deeply) and appreciate with a grateful heart and soul all that I have and all that I don’t have in this world.
What is Thanksgiving to you?
A Grateful Life 