As we get closer to the holiday of Thanksgiving I’ve been pondering.  What is the true spirit of Thanksgiving? 

Should it only be limited to the traditional family dinners with relatives and friends? While these moments of celebration have their place, and undoubtedly should be enjoyed, a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude might be something worth considering.

If not careful, things we’ve come to expect to be routine, predictable and stable can easily be overlooked without the spirit of thanksgiving. 

I’m calling the spirit of thanksgiving a lifestyle of giving thanks and expressing gratefulness for things we tend not to observe until they are missed. These can fall into the category of people, circumstances, relationships, an advantage or status of privilege in something everyone may not enjoy.

Something as simple as waking each morning with our health and strength. How about leaving home and coming back to a house intact with everything still standing as you left it and couple that; with some of our fellow Americans who have been displaced by the tragic storms, over the past several weeks. Their lives totally upended and altered for some, irreparably.  

Think about getting in your car and thoughtlessly expecting it to fire up to take you to the errand or responsibilities and appointments you have on the schedule, and making it safely home without incident. These are things that might be taken for granted, which should be cause for giving thanks.

With the speed of our lives these days along with the distractions within that pace, we might overlook obvious things we really are grateful for that often go without notice or mention.

As a way of personal testimonial. I’m coming to see the benefit and lessons gleaned from the hard and difficult times in my life as well. And while I would never ask for them, they come unexpectedly and unsolicited. Anyway, who would look at heartbreak, disappointment and pain only to surprisingly find healing, hope and strength? These aren’t typical places to find added value for our lives, but we could. 

We will have involuntary encounters that bring us good results even though we would never like to revisit the way it all played out. The resilience, independence and wisdom we received, for these things we should be grateful and give thanks. They have made us who we are today for the better.

So in this season of Thanksgiving remember to give thanks  for the good, the bad, the difficult and unthinkable.

 After all, it didn’t do to us in the end what it could have or even may have been designed to do. We have survived, and it’s a lot to be thankful for!

Happy Giving Thanks,

anablepsis