By Leland Pulley
The holiday we call Thanksgiving is associated with the Pilgrims who came to America from England in fall 1620. They had a bad winter and the help they received the following year from the local Indians was appreciated. It was then that they had their actual harvest meal together. Their meal was simpler than our meals today, and took more effort to prepare. Their turkeys were wild and not the ones with fat breasts that we have bred and sell in stores today. For the Pilgrims, this special occasion was a day of feasting and giving thanks for divine goodness. They were in a new land with a new sense of freedom, and they expected to make the most of it even though hardship and survival had visited them already and would continue to do so in the future.
With time that first meal became our Thanksgiving Day holiday observed in the United Sates and Canada. Much of the purpose or meaning of the day remains, depending on the home you are in and the traditions in your family.
Thanksgiving is more than just eating a big meal and being together with family members, although there is nothing wrong with either of these. To really get the good out of this special day, we need to bring in the word gratitude. The Pilgrims had suffered religious intolerance in England, poverty, poor health, bad weather, many deaths that first winter, and a lack of some basic skills for surviving well in the new land they were colonizing. After experiencing many hardships, they were truly grateful for what they did have. They could feel their blessings as well as think about them. They knew where they had been and where they were seeking to go in order to have a society more to their liking.
Today it is so easy for us to take for granted all the benefits we have. The efforts of those who came before us are not even thought about very much unless a person finds ways to remind himself about their efforts. Many Americans are comfortable and have never experienced lack of religious freedom, poverty, physical hardships, nor lots of death among family and friends. They take grocery stores for granted; assuming these stores will always be there, full of food, and at reasonable prices. Under such conditions, it is easy to not dwell on gratitude. It is difficult to truly feel it when we do dwell upon it.
Some Americans do face real challenges of various types. Others have seen, visited, or helped people in their community who do have lots of problems to solve and needs to be met. Some Americans have traveled abroad and come home far more appreciative of the blessings we have in this great land.
All of us can be grateful if we merely stop and consider the many good things we have in our lives, as well as the bad things or things we do not like. Too often we focus on negative things or things that are not going well for us. We should learn to appreciate what we have without complaining so much about what we do not have. When we begin to feel sorry for ourselves, consider the plight of so many others. Reach out and help someone, and you will feel less sorry for yourself. Become more active in life and have a broader range of experiences. You will gain an appreciation of all life has to offer for anyone who will reach for it. Challenge yourself in specific areas to improve, and with time you will be grateful for the progress you have made.
Contrast and effort bring gratitude. If you are sick, you appreciate good health more. If you have real hunger, you appreciate food more. If you are truly lonely, you appreciate friends more. In a similar fashion, if you set a goal and work to accomplish it, you are grateful for the end result. For example, if you do daily exercise, you are more aware of your body and treat it with more respect. You appreciate your efforts to lose weight or control your diet or build up your strength and endurance.
Gratitude can come in many ways to all of us. And best of all, it is not limited to Thanksgiving Day. Learn to appreciate what you have been given. Share things with others. Extend thanks to those who have helped you in any way, including God. It is my desire that you will have a grateful heart and experience more gratitude each day as the years go by.
Key Words – Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, family, gratitude, appreciate, help someone, share, God
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