Thanksgiving should be every day

How do you plan to spend the holiday of Thanksgiving? Is the planning of a large dinner and serving it to those you love, high on your list? Fellowship, mouth-watering food to tickle you pallet and getting together with loved ones is certainly a worthy goal. The pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving in 1621, after their first harvest in the new world. The feast lasted three days, and according to attendee Edward Winslow, it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims (Wikipedia). From the readings in history, the pilgrims felt they had much for which to be thankful. They were being appreciative for God's protection on the way over to America, and God's providing food through their harvest. Many dreams were fulfilled within them.

Do we genuinely stop and think of what we have for which to be thankful? I'm often unsure. The food is usually tasty, and hopefully the people with which we dine are amicable, but do we focus on why we are gathered? Is your main goal to watch a favorite football game or prepare a special dish for dinner? Is the thanks and appreciation we feel, shown in such a way that others can notice? A thank you to God, or to other people needs to be heart-felt rather than, a flip off the shoulder gesture and fake rehearsed words -- words spoken without meaning or feeling.

Do we often gladly take what is offered to us, but seldom see the needs of other people and offer our help, a listening ear or a word of encouragement? Thanksgiving is to realize the gift of friendship and camaraderie -- someone with whom to talk when we want to cry, have good news to share or hear someone say our name. Hearing our name lifts our spirits. Something as simple as "Hi, Jane, Ellen, Bill, Johnny, Lance brings to us, a sense of importance. We sometimes don't realize the importance of the gift of love this can bring to us, so we need to make a special effort to remember people's name so we can be one to help them feel recognized.

When our life seems full of problems, it's difficult to feel grateful, isn't it? All we see are our troubles, like a black cloud shadowing all of our life. But then, do we notice when things get better -- or do we take it for granted?

Nick Ortner writes in, "The tapping solution," what gratitude is. "It's a habit and a way of looking at the world and all the good things in it with a feeling of appreciation, regardless of whether or not your situation is to your liking. Gratitude is a heart-centered approach to being at peace with yourself and what you have.

"When we practice this attitude of gratitude, it attracts other and more things in our lives for which we can be grateful."

We feel that we are too busy to notice our blessings. We settle into our comfortable mold of conveniences at our fingertips and feel that we are entitled to them. It isn't until our electric power goes out, the car won't start because the battery's dead, or a tire is flat, that we pay attention to what we've been privy to, and neglected to be grateful.

We don't appreciate the summer heat until ice appears on the ground. Our good health is ignored until we become ill, then we begin to see how fortunate we've been until now. We live as if those whom we love will live forever, and we put off attending to them.

If someone is depressed, we're often too busy to notice, when oftentimes, one encouraging word from us would lift them up. It's important that we are appreciative and grateful, both for ourselves and others. Give thanks for everything good that appears, and the bad, too. It usually brings a lesson or enlightenment. Give Thanksgiving Day the credit it deserves and continue living with thanksgiving every day.