Thanksgiving: one day set aside each year to give thanks for our blessings. When asked what we are thankful for, we typically give the cliché response of “friends, family, food to eat, and a place to live.” This is an easy answer because it doesn’t require much thought and no one can really argue with it. Too often friends and family gather to spend five minutes saying what they are thankful for and the rest of their time watching football and consuming the plethora of food that comes with Thanksgiving festivities. Not that it’s bad to watch football, but what if we if we were genuinely thankful for our blessings?
It is difficult to truly be grateful for the gifts we have been blessed with. As students we have exams, papers, and extra-curricular activities to worry about. Jumping on the bandwagon is a lot easier than sitting down and putting some thought into what we are truly thankful for. Not only that, but it is also difficult to fully appreciate something until you know what it is like to live without it. The average student does not know what it is like to not have a place to stay or to be told their life is coming to an end. Because of this, we tend to take these things for granted.
We expect there to be a tomorrow. We expect to still have our whole life ahead of us, for there to be electricity when we flip the switch, and for food to be available when we are hungry. The truth is, though, that we never truly know what is ahead of us. We think we do, but we don’t. We have no way of knowing what curve balls will be thrown our way. For this reason, we mustn’t take things for granted.
So I ask you, what are you thankful for? I’m sure we can all agree that we are grateful for an upcoming month-long break, but if you had to make a list of the things that you couldn’t be happier to have in your life, what would they be? Are you grateful for the days with beautiful, cloudless, blue skies that never fail to brighten your day? Is there someone that has always been by your side? (If so, let them know – I promise you won’t regret it!) Or maybe, you are just thankful to be alive. Whatever it may be, take some time to reflect on it. Think about what it means to truly be grateful for something and keep those less fortunate close to your hearts not only on Thanksgiving, but everyday.
