Well it’s been quite a bit since the last Tryin Times post. Quite a bit has happened in the last few months. If you’re lucky enough to have made it to this Thanksgiving without losing a spouse, family member or friend you’re luckier than most right now. Regardless of whether you lost someone to sickness or death, or whether you lost them to the political facebook war, look around you right now. If you are reading this blog, you’re lucky to be here this Thanksgiving and I’m going to tell you why.
Understanding the real risks associated with putting people in harms way through contamination and spread, I hope you made wise decisions this year. This may have included limiting, adjusting, or even cancelling your Thanksgiving tradition.
Did you really want to talk to everyone at the party anyway?
I don’t care who you are.. you don’t care about getting within 6 feet of EVERY person that was going to be at the celebration THAT much. Even so, if you don’t get to see them today or this weekend as you normally would have, what a better time than to think about how THANKFUL you are to have that person/those people?
American Thanksgiving could use a shakeup. It’s not exactly the same today as it was in my childhood..
But Jeremy…..its thanksgiving! Every year, the night before Black Friday we sit around with a percentage of family *if you’re lucky* and celebrate what used to be known as Thanksgiving. We gather, we watch TV, we give grace, and we all work together to eat as much of our food before winter that we can before it spoils. We give food to the Indians and put down our guns. We watch the Cowboys and the Redskins. Make cranberry remoulade! Giant FLOATS on the MACYS PARADE. We skin deer! Thanksgiving is a feast of tradition!
Look..I love my family as much as the next guy, gal or gender-neutral, and truly am saddened by not being able to see them this holiday.
But I’m grateful they are alive-and can celebrate with their family.
If you’re lucky enough to have survived until Thanksgiving 2020.. This one is for you. You made it here to experience this for a reason. If you weren’t supposed to experience this Thanksgiving You’d already be dead!
You should be thankful today for what you have. A lot of people around the earth, whether you think it’s round or flat, have a lot less this Thanksgiving than they did last Thanksgiving. You have the freedom to do with this day whatever you choose. You may not get to see all of your family.. and if you are alone this Thanksgiving, you are not alone. If this is your first EVER Thanksgiving alone, you are still not alone.There are quite a few people out there going through this together separately.
Misery loves company.
You should look at this Thanksgiving as an opportunity to start NEW traditions particular to you and your family/friends. Sure maybe sloth, gluttony, and greed are fun for a holiday trifecta but you aren’t married to the pilgrim and Indian cabbage patch meal football day.
You should reach out to someone you WERE planning on talking to today. You can bet they were probably looking forward to talking to you. Use that $1200 phone to call someone once in a while. Perhaps talk to someone you Weren’t planning on talking to this Thanksgiving. Making them happier may do the same for you.
Try to Practice* Gratitude
Gratitude could be something less of a feeling or experience than it is a trait or a skill possessed by wise ones. Gratefulness or gratitude is probably something difficult to have if you don’t love yourself. It’s definitely confusing to understand what “loving yourself” means. I think that’s sort of what gratitude is. Loving yourself enough to not let any outside circumstances affect your personal pursuit of happiness. But what if you could make someone feel grateful, or thankful?
Give it a shot.
Try making someone ELSE feel thankful today. Be the reason they are grateful.
Share it with a brother or sister. If you’ve read this far, I wish you the best Thanksgiving you can remember. I for one am very grateful to have made it to this Thanksgiving through these strange trying times. Want to try to dedicate more blog writing as a service to other who seek to understand others or hope to mirror my reflections of the world off of theirs and see if it helps. I hope that though the typical tradition your family may not be happening this year, you are able to form a new, loving, grateful, and healthy Thanksgiving!
