What It Means To Be Thankful

To all of you amazing people,

If you’re reading this, then it’s that time of year: Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving holds many meanings for different people depending on what you grew up with. For some, Thanksgiving is a time that you spend with family stuffing your face with turkey, stuffing, vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread, pumpkin pie—–gosh my mouth’s just watering thinking about all this food! Literally everyday should be Thanksgiving, I’m I right? 😉 Or for some Thanksgiving’s a time to sing karaoke with family, play board games, or go camping. Or maybe it’s the day you rest up before going Black Friday shopping.

But no matter how you spend Thanksgiving, it should be always spent with the people you love and that’s what matters most. And when I was thinking of Thanksgiving, I often wondered why we ate so much and maybe it has something to do with history that I probably forgot because there’s only so much you can remember, but it made me remember that food bonds people. When people eat dinner, they often times gather at a table to eat. When people eat out, they sit at a table. When people do things with others, it often means eating. And it’s such a weird thing how food can bond us and fulfill us in so many different aspects—–mind, body, and soul. Food is such a special thing that we should be grateful for in knowing that that food you’re eating has come from so many hands that worked to create it. As you sit down to eat this Thanksgiving or any Thanksgiving, I want you to think of all the farmers, all the agricultural people, all the people who shipped and transported your food to your local grocery stores, and to the hands that prepared your food. I want you to think about how there’s so many things you don’t think about when you see that food on the table. It didn’t appear by magic. It came from hard work from people, people who shipped it there, and people who prepared it for you. We often take it for granted that food is a right rather than a privilege, but it’s not. Take a moment to thank all those hands before you and to thank whoever made you what you’re about to eat on Thanksgiving or any day. Thank them.

One of the things I was always fascinated with when it came to Thanksgiving was preparing the food. I wanted to learn how to cook and be a part of that process, so if you have the time, help out with the people making the food. It makes for better moments and bonding. It might also give you more appreciation for how hard or stressful it is to prepare such a feast for a large crowd. If cookings not your forte, then help out in a different way. Set the table. Cut the pie. Pour the waters. Do something to help back or contribute to the experience.

When it also comes to Thanksgiving, be present. Enjoy the moments with your family because when life’s so busy, it often separates people a lot because one has work or the other has to go to this activity or another has to do this. Thanksgiving is a time where we can slow down and bond over food and realize we have so many things to be thankful for.

So many things.

Take a moment here and list ten things you are thankful for. It can be as simple as your family, your friends, food, to be alive.

The list can be endless because there are endless things we take for granted that we should be thankful for each day. Much like Valentine’s Day, a day of love, I think Thanksgiving should be celebrated everyday not in the sense of eating a lot of food—–but I won’t argue with that—–but taking that breath to realize and appreciate everything around you.

You have family who loves you for better or worse. Sometimes it might not feel like that, but trust me, they do. You have friends who care about you. Sometimes they might not always show it or say it, but trust me they do. You have energy that powers your home. You have a home—–a roof over your head. Some people don’t even have that. You have food on your table. Some people can’t come by that easily. You have an education. Some people don’t have that or can’t afford it. You have clothes on your back. Some people have to scrounge for that. You have technology at your fingertip. People back then didn’t have that. Some people have two eyes that can see whether wearing glasses or not, some have two feet that can walk, some have two hands that can write, some have two ears that can hear. The sad truth is some people can’t see, walk, write, or hear. That doesn’t make those individuals any less or different than those who can—–it makes them stronger. Be thankful for the little things you don’t recognize everyday.

Be thankful for how your body heals. You don’t think about it, but when you get a cut or break a bone, you place a band-aid or some sort of medical thing on it. Given time, it heals (most of the time). And that’s because your body’s working for you to heal. You may not see it, you may not feel it, but it’s there. Thank your body. Be thankful for how you breathe. You may not feel it, you may not see it all the time, but be grateful for each breath that you inhale an exhale. Be thankful for your heart. You can’t see it, you might feel it, but it beats. Take care of it.

Be thankful.

Being thankful isn’t about trying to brag about all the things you have and to make people who might not have those things, feel less about themselves. Being thankful is acknowledging what you have and appreciating it for what it does for you. Being thankful is in the small acts you do to take care of yourself and for others. It’s the way you sleep at night to rest your body. It’s the way you bathe to clean your body. It’s the way you open the door for others when they’re struggling. It’s cleaning up the house before your parents get home because you don’t want them to be mad. It’s about saying happy birthday or asking someone how their day was. It’s about washing the dishes when your parents aren’t looking and without being asked. It’s about doing the work even if it’s hard. It’s about showing that you care.

That’s what it means.

There’s so many ways to be thankful each day and so many things to be.

Today might be Thanksgiving, or whenever you’re reading this, it may not be, but I hope you take the sentiment of what Thanksgiving means and apply it to life each and every day.

Each day is a gift. Each person a gift. Each breath, each ray of sun. Everything.

Be appreciative.

Be grateful.

Be blessed.

Be humbled.

Be thankful.

There is nothing, and I mean nothing more beautiful in life than watching, hearing, and feeling people act out of the kindness of their hearts and to see people living humbly as they can.

I hope you have or had a great Thanksgiving and I hope it was filled with good food, good company, and good thoughts.

Chose today, tomorrow, and everyday and remember what it means

to be thankful.

And as always, with love,