When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Tecumseh
Could Chief Tecumseh and the new world settlers be right? Should we give thanks in this messy world of ours? I don’t know about you, but, at times, I feel buried by masses of menacing messages on TV – crooked politicians, global warming, and medical warnings. Who knows what’s true? One day coffee will kill you and the next day it can save your life. You know what I mean? So you ask yourself, Can the chief be right? Are there reasons to be thankful?
Maybe he’ right. I still enjoy watching the squirrels, rabbits, deer, and ground hogs. (Well, not so much the ground hog with his excavations in my yard.) And, I love to breathe in the fragrance of the roses. I’m still delighted with the camellia blooms each fall. How can you breathe in the scent of a rose and be in despair? Even more, I have people to love who love me back. So, maybe the chief is right.
I’m going with the chief. I plan to turn off the news, forget my work, hug and kiss my family and eat my fill of turkey, filling, gravy, and cranberry salad (who cares about vegetable – its a holiday). I’ll salute it all with my favorite coffee and plow into the cherry pie, red velvet cake, and ice cream.
I say forget the politicians and economists for at least a day. Enjoy and celebrate Thanksgiving for we do have much to be grateful for. While the news trumpets death in multiple ways, you and I can celebrate life, beauty, and love in all their multiple forms.
Consider this – giving thanks for what’s good, true, and beautiful can lead to a –
- Sense of inner fulness; you’re taking in the good, true, and beautiful which literally feed us.
- Respect for self; you can appreciate the good in you.
- Desire to acknowledge mistakes. You know the good in you and can afford to acknowledge mistakes and make restitution.
- Desire to contribute to others. Thankfulness for the good in your life can lead to the desire to contribute to others.
- Desire to celebrate the success of others. You’re okay. You can feel good the success of others.
On the other hand, failure to see the good can lead to more awareness of death and dying. The result is more –
- Anxiety. It feels like a dangerous world which leads to the desire for isolation.
- Depression. There’s no end to bad news.
- Loneliness and emptiness. Why don’t your family and friends call (who wants to call and be depressed)?
- Urgency to fix the compounding anxiety, depression and loneliness.
- Quick fixes to dull emotional pain -drugs, alcohol, over eating, gambling and sex.
- Self-focus and letting friendships drift.
Personally, I want to be aware of the pit of despair and steer around it; get myself back on the road to thankfulness. I want to remember the good in myself, others, my work, nature, and the spiritual; feel joy.
You and I can avoid letting the “news of the day” bury us under a load of messes that we can’t fix or repair. We can choose to be wise and with thanks look for the good, beautiful, and true. We can truly live.
Let’s enjoy Thanksgiving with all the gusto we can muster!
Couple U 
Personal note just for Chris:
I am remembering the aunts that enriched the Mosemann gathering at holidays. About the very time you wrote this, Dick and I were just moving into Dock Woods, a retirement community near Lansdale. Was following leads on the internet for Mosemann genealogy and . . . after many clues came across Christian Wenger Mosemann. Couldn’t help but click on your website and be very impressed with your professional career and wisdom such as this one on thanksgiving. Life really is all about gratitude!!
Mary and Richard Lichty
RMLichty@Verizon.net
Hi Mary and Richard,
Thanks for your kind comment. I still remember the good times at the Aunts and their sense of wisdom about life. They seemed to have a good sense of humor and didn’t take themselves too seriously.
With appreciation,
Chris
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