Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  Being with family and friends, cooking and baking, eating, playing games, strengthening relationships, laughter, tears, spending time with those I love, and football.  All of these experiences are what Thanksgiving has always meant to me.

In the past few weeks, I have given this season of thanksgiving a lot of thought.

Think of someone you know that is happy, someone who smiles, and makes others happy by just being around them.  Now think of someone you know that is unhappy, they seem older than they are, they are bitter, angry or depressed, and drain others of their energy.  First let me say we should never judge another until we have walked a while in their shoes.  Having said that, I believe there is a particular virtue missing in the life of the person who is unhappy.  Where there is an abundance of this virtue, a person is more likable, happy, and at peace.  When this virtue is forgotten, there is misery, sadness and futility.

The virtue I refer to is gratitude.

Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. Those who are grateful tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable.  I propose that people are unhappy because they have lost or not acquired the virtue of gratitude. Perhaps life didn’t turn out the way they thought it would.  External conditions do not make a person happy.  In fact, external things so valued by the world are often the cause of a great deal of misery in the world.  Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery into delight. It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure.  It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty and admiration.  Living in thanksgiving daily is a habit that will enrich our lives and the lives of those we love.  How do we make living in thanksgiving part of who we are? 

Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote, “The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life” (Quotationary, electronic quotation dictionary). Unfortunately, because the beauties of life are so abundant, sometimes we take them for granted.  Our minds have a marvelous capacity to notice the unusual. However, the opposite is true as well:  The more often we see the things around us—even the beautiful and wonderful things—the more they become invisible to us.  Often we take for granted the beauty around us:  flowers, treest, birds, and even those we love.  We see some things so often, that we see them less and less.

Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however, have a way of opening their eyes and seeing the wonders and beauties of this world as though seeing them for the first time.  I encourage you to look around.  Notice the people you care about. Notice the fragrance of the flowers and the song of the birds.  Notice and give thanks for the blue of the sky, the color of the leaves, and the white of the clouds.  Enjoy every sight, every smell, every taste, every sound.  When we open our eyes and give thanks for the bountiful beauty of this life, we live in thanksgiving daily.

We must let go of the negative emotions that bind our hearts and instead fill our souls with love, faith, and thanksgiving.  Anger, resentment, and bitterness stunt the growth of our spirit.  Cleanse your heart and do not harbor thoughts and feelings that drag you down and destroy your spirit.

One of the best ways to live in gratitude is by opening your arms to those around you and blessing their lives. When was the last time you told someone you love how much they mean to you?  When was the last time you expressed your gratitude to someone who has always been there for you, someone who has sacrificed for you, someone whose heart has always been filled with hopes and dreams for you?  When was the last time you unselfishly reached out to help another in need?  Every time we cheer another’s heart, every time we ease another’s burden, every time we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude to that God to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are.  Gratitude is shown by our acts.

Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been an especially grateful person. Think of how delightfully surprised those who thought they knew you will be, as you turn over a new leaf and embark on a new journey filled with gratitude.  Every dawn is a new day—a new opportunity.  Now is the time to stop seeking the storms in life and enjoy the sunlight.  Look for the good in others.  Still our voices of insult and sarcasm, and genuinely compliment and lift others.

Begin today.  Thanskgiving is the beginning of gratitude.  Reach out to those around you, lift, build and be truly happy.  Open your eyes, open your heart and your arms.  Your life will have new meaning and you will build relationships that will transcend this life and endure into the eternities.