It is Thanksgiving again. The traditional time to give thanks for all the good things we have and all bad that we do not have. We live in America, and while we are having our ideological struggles I am thankful that we are still allowed those struggles and that they are manifest in ideologies rather than physical confrontations. We are blessed and we should always remember that.
Remembering and acknowledging we are blessed is not the end though. To paraphrase a wise text, “Don’t just say you’re thankful and so deceive yourself. Live it out.” It is a very easy thing to say we are thankful and even list out those things for which we are thankful. But do we live it out? If I have a job am a truly thankful that I have one or do I complain all the time? If I have have the means to buy good food to make at home or have someone else make it for me but I do not think of and share with others can I be truly called thankful? Thankfulness goes beyond words – it becomes something we naturally do.
When you are out there this holiday enjoying time with your family, or even fussing with them, try to think of ways not just to say you are thankful but to show it. It could be shown through a card, it could be washing the dishes, it could be sitting at the kid table, it could be allowing someone else to get the last black-Friday item – all things that are doable and mean something. Let us move on from just saying we are thankful with mere words and start living like we are thankful with our actions.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Attempt it. Chance it. Try it. Get to It!