It's the holiday season, and most people like to skip straight from Halloween to Christmas. However, these past couple of weeks I have been heavily counting my blessings. So in this article, I want to take a moment to list the things that I love most about Thanksgiving. It's the perfect day to reflect and to be thankful instead of working to get what we don't have and doing stuff that can wait for another day.
As you read this article, sit back and think of the things you like most about Thanksgiving! Your list may be different than mine but we all still have something to be thankful for. So get out your pen and pencil and make a list, and look back on it, when you have bad days, remind yourself of all the good things you have, and you will be reminded that you are in fact, blessed, any time of the year, not just on Thanksgiving!
1. The food
As a twenty-something being on her own for the first time, I'm pretty sure I will be more thankful for the abundance of food that there will be on Thanksgiving. My grandparents always make about five pies, and that's just the dessert. There are so many wonderful different types of foods at my family's Thanksgiving. It's the one time of year we really get to eat more than we should, and feel no shame about it later! Because everyone is eating a gross amount of food together!
2. The family
I love that most of my family can get together during Thanksgiving. We may not all get together on Christmas every year but I can most certainly count on Thanksgiving. We always play Euchre and Settlers of Catan until we are sick of it, and wait around for next year. We watch football games until we can't look at the TV screen anymore, and we make jokes and just really enjoy each other's company.
3. The Friendsgiving
When I lived in the Christian Campus House, we had friendsgiving and friends Easter. But I like celebrating with friends on Thanksgiving. It doesn't matter what we're eating or what we're having. Getting to be with friends and family on the holidays is something truly remarkable. Everybody makes something and brings it, and we eat if it's good or bad. It's always a great time!
4. Being Thankful
I feel like I spend a good amount of the year gripping about what I don't have. And so Thanksgiving is a great time for me to just really reflect and be thankful for what I have. Even if life isn't perfect or as dreamy as I'd like it to be sometimes we still all have something to be thankful for. On your worst day, there are still reasons to smile, the sun still shines and the birds still sing. So I like to make lists and count my blessings on this day, instead of working or worrying about what I don't have and still need to do. It's a day of rest, and I am truly thankful for this day.
5. Leftovers!
This is kind of like the first one, however, there is something about eating leftover thanksgiving food a few days later that makes my heart happy. It reminds me again to be thankful and again to remember that the holiday season is to spread joy and to be light, as every day should be. Left over thanksgiving food is just as good as the first time, because it reminds you to be thankful even a few days later.
So take a moment, really reflect on what you are thankful for this holiday season. And not just on the holiday season, every day. Take ten minutes to count your blessings. In fact, do it before you go to bed and right when you wake up so you always remember what you have so you make sure you can appreciate those things while you still have them and don't take them for granted!:) Life is too short to worry about what we don't have and still need to do, so instead let's spend that time reminding ourselves that life is good and we have so much to give and so much to be thankful for! Happy early Thanksgiving!
