Ah, but the paradox is that we now 'bundle' our holidays in this country. We can 'do' Halloween, Thanksgiving AND Christmas all in one.
In reality I am blessed with a roof over my head (a glorious one!), a bed to sleep in, the ultimate luxury of fresh water, food and as I mentioned recently in a post, an in-house washer and dryer. Can I be profoundly grateful and still want more? The media bombards us with images of must-haves while social media is a constant reminder that 'our life falls short of what others have and achieve'.
We all have a back story, a story not visible to others but imbedded in the way we process the world around us. As a child, the 3 holidays were indeed 3 separate holidays. As an adult I now try hard to avoid the drama of how our society inflicts it on us. For the most part Halloween passes me by. I have no interest in dressing up and in the last 40 years we have had only one trick-or-treater! It is pretty easy to sidestep that one.
Thanksgiving is truly about giving thanks. I was given a 'Grateful Journal' at church recently and asked to write down 2 or 3 things each day that I was grateful for. We have added a twist to that at our house. Sometimes life throws a few things at you that make marriage and spouse communication a bit tricky. We are in that place. So... for the month of November we are beginning each day by writing down one specific thing we are grateful for in the other person. By beginning each day with this grateful heart for the other, we remind ourselves that each passing day is precious, valuable and full. We are reminding ourselves that being grateful is a vital part of 'us'.
We await Thanksgiving. We offer our thanks because of, but also in spite of life's circumstances. We want to be aware of our own truths, not those foisted on us by others. This in turn brings us the peace of Thanksgiving...grateful thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving to you.