Giving thanks.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving – a day for family, friends, food and football; a day set aside for expressions of gratitude and acts of kindness; a day that in recent years has become a pre-run to the craziest shopping day of the year – Black Friday; something that will not be included in my holiday celebration. We all know the true meaning of the Thanksgiving celebration and yet with all the hype and hoopla presented to us in social media, on television and in newspapers and magazines, it can become all too easy to let shopping overpower thanking.

As part of your family traditions, how many of you go around the dinner table with each person expressing their reasons to give thanks? In my family, we still do. When I was younger, I used to roll my eyes at this tradition because I was painfully shy and afraid of saying something wrong; in other words, the focus was on me. Maybe I also took my blessings a little too much for granted. As I grew older and wiser, I came to realize how it is so NOT about me and how important it is to openly express thanks for all the good in my life and to the family and friends who make it that way. Thanksgiving puts it all in perspective.

Quoting Margaret Cousins, “Appreciation can change a day, even a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”

Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by MJ Thomas