Thanksgiving is a lost holiday. It's been endangered for a long time and headed even closer in the direction of extinction. Today, we call eating an elaborate meal with some family and napping the turkey off later to make room for round two later, Thanksgiving. When someone says 'Thanksgiving,' you might start salivating at the thought of your grandmother's stuffing or the casserole that only your aunt makes right. Food is what we classify Thanksgiving as. Anymore these days, it seems like we lost Thanksgiving.
The history of Thanksgiving dates back to the beginning days of when America was The New World and instead of millions, only hundreds or thousands. It was a time when they had nothing, but they still managed to be thankful. They weren't greeting their parents after being gone for 3 months asking when they are getting a new phone. They were thankful for being alive because at that point in our history, that was impressive. Whereas today, we eat the expensive dinner, make small talk, and then prepare ourselves to be at our greediest to get the best deal on Black Friday steals.
What happened to the true meaning of it all? You know, to be thankful? A season to be thankful for the import people in your life, the things that gotten you where you are today, and the basic necessities around you and the extravagant luxuries that are "common living" for most of America today. The technology we can't live without is unimaginable to other countries and sometimes we forget that. So if you are lacking things to be thankful for, here are some ideas: Almost half of the world lives on $2.50 a day, that's less than $20 a week. 783 million people don't have access to clean water. 60% of the world doesn't have access to the internet. 2.6 billion people don't even have a toilet to go to the restroom. 1 and 9 people in the world don't have enough food to live a healthy life.
The things that we don't think twice about, the things that we aren't grateful for, those things aren't even available to most of the world. Thanksgiving is day to put this all in perspective. Instead of acknowledging our privileges, we expect them. So this Thanksgiving, instead of diving head-first into a turkey coma, what if you bring some of the lost holiday back to the table. Talk about some of the things you're thankful for with whoever you're celebrating the day with. Let those in your life who mean the most know just how appreciative you are of them. This Thanksgiving, bring the thanks back to the table first, where it belongs.
