Getting Lost in the Holidays
It is that time of year. This weekend I am out getting the fixings for Thursday’s feast.  I know people who will be alone for the holiday, some by choice. Some clinging to the past knowing today could never be as joyful as when they were young, or loved, or not  abandoned or alone.

Others stress about “the relatives” or company. Or the meal or the table settings.  Some will forget the purpose of the holiday and mourn their losses or the past.  With the hustle and bustle of the season, the added tasks, The personalities and memories;  giving thanks can seem to get lost in it all.

So what are these internal voices?
” I’ve had better years”
“This time of year I always mourn the loss of, my partner , my parent(s) my child my sibling.”
“I get so much stress with some of the in-laws” 
“Thanksgiving is just folk lore about Pilgrims and Indians.”

Actually, Thanksgiving in some form or another is celebrated on different dates world wide. It is often a global thanks for the harvest.  As for the Pilgrims. there is this thought:
“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.“  – H.U. Westermayer

It is often not the Norman Rockwell image we see of grandma presenting the turkey to a table full of smiles. But what a difference being truly grateful can make.

Why not be thankful for those experiences and people you had when younger. They are still in your memory and heart. Nobody can take that from you.

Giving thanks is work. It requires thought and thoughtfulness. But it is joyful work.   Sadly for some, giving thanks can seem to be a chore.
“I still need to write those thank you cards for the,  wedding, shower, holiday, birthday;  gifts.”

If it is not from the heart…it is not really gratitude.   Slow down.  Make time.
Consider all the gifts we are given  this day.  Giving thanks should be joyful. Find the joy inside then move forward.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let your gratitude flow through you…  out to the world around you.

This is such an important topic I have dedicated a permanent page to it.

See Gratitude.     Want to really get it in your heart?  Take 5 minutes to watch A Good Day.

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.  ~W.T. Purkiser

At the risk of sounding “preachy”…If you are alone this holiday season, why not give to others in need?  Allow God to work through you. You can do so even if you are not alone. As a couple. As a family.  As a group of friends or worshipers.

Here are some thoughts gleaned from Wikipedia on gratitude.

Gratitude is viewed as a prized human propensity in the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu traditions.

According to Cicero, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.” Multiple studies have shown the correlation between gratitude and increased wellbeing not only for the individual but for all people involved.

In my home, we began a tradition after my first daughter was born, of going around the table at Thanksgiving and expressing a few things we are thankful for.  It reminds us to think about what God has given us. And it teaches us to not forget to say thank you.

Everyday.

I have had Norman Rockwell Thanksgivings with a long table of friends and family
and solo dinners with a frozen dinner.

It’s what you make it.

Say thanks this holiday season but even more so, listen to your heart and find joy and gratitude.  It’s in there.   Let God flow through you.

My 2¢.

May God bless you and keep you safe this holiday season.

-j