It’s the time of year in the United States to give thanks for all we have. 

In my family, we still celebrate Thanksgiving the way we learned to from our parents: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and pie. Maybe a few vegetables if someone insists. But we spend less than a minute giving thanks together. It’s not a criticism, it’s just what we do.  Someone will say a quick prayer and done. Dig in.

It’s usually me who says, “Let’s go around the table and say something we are thankful for.” The responses consist of “What?”, “The food’s getting cold.”, “Didn’t we do this last year?” and “I can’t think of anything. Ask me next year.”

They are kidding, but we don’t get around to the actual thanking part, nor to the acknowledgement that giving thanks is a way to assess our lives. We do have so much to be thankful for, and spending a few minutes thinking about it and saying it can change our perspective. It can allow us space to consider all that we have. And that space expands to give us peace of mind and body. And expansion leads to generosity.

It can be hard to be thankful when we see food programs eliminated, the chasm of divisiveness, the pain of family separation, the scarcity of good jobs, and more. 

When these thoughts arise, I remember we have each other. People help people. Together we create experiences and situations to be thankful for. We create families of people that may not be the ones we grew up with.

There are people who give thanks daily. There are some who can remember to give thanks many times throughout their days. I want to be one of them.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Until next space…