Attitude of Gratitude

The one holiday that seems to get overlooked because of its proximity to the biggest holiday of the year: Thanksgiving. Once school is in full swing the stores are full of costumes and creepy decorations, then the leaves begin to fall and there’s a section in all the stores that are beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It doesn’t take long before lights are outlining houses and people start playing and singing Christmas songs. There are some people who hate the annual occurrence and others who justify it.

I personally do not see a problem with an early Christmas, it is a wonderful time of year and is about sharing joy. That’s a good thing in my book. However, I do feel that the reason for the Thanksgiving holiday should be more present than it is. I don’t know of any “Thanksgiving songs” that ever play on the radio. There are Halloween songs and Christmas songs, but the month in between is missing the musical acknowledgement. I am glad, that there are still decorations and traditions that remain in place.

The act of being grateful, I feel, is lacking in our society. With the information age and technology at our fingertips at any moment, we don’t have to wait or go without. We don’t understand the feeling of not having the mountain load of blessings and ease that we have. When we sit around the table with our overabundant meal we mention the greatest blessings in our lives; our families, friends, good food, health, and safety. But then we jump into Christmas to give and receive more. I am glad that we feel the true spirit of Christmas once in a while and act with love and gratitude, and in this case I think the two holidays can be combined.

I’m not saying that putting Christmas decorations up in November is a bad thing, in fact I think it’s smart to do it before there’s ice and snow on the roof. I’m not saying someone needs to write Thanksgiving songs either, though it might be nice. What I am saying is that I think gratitude is one of the best things to celebrate, and an attribute we should strongly develop for all months of the year. I hope that we can all be extremely grateful this week and develop that habit for the rest of the year and the next one to come!  I don’t want Thanksgiving to be overlooked, because I want, for myself and everyone else, to be more grateful all year round.