Tomorrow is Thanksgiving....such a wonderful holiday, such a wonderful reminder. But to tell you the truth, I don't know why we need a National Holiday to remind us that we should be thankful for what we have and for those around us. I think that we all should be thankful everyday. My mom always tells me, when I'm feeling upset or down about something, that before bed each night we should think of all the things in our life that we are grateful for, and the things we are upset about will seem much less significant. She is a wise woman.
I think that our society has become consumer driven, selfish, and gluttonous. This holiday that is supposed to be about appreciating our family, our health, and what we have seems to have turned into a holiday that first results in people seeing how much they can eat, and then becomes a marker for the 'best shopping deals' of the year.
I am thankful, and I want those around me to realize how very lucky we are to just be able to be citizens of this wonderful country. We are able to sit down at a table filled with foods, while others in the world dig in dumpsters, and pray that somehow the water that they are drinking will not make them sick.
As a parent, I hope that I am able to instil thankfulness in my children. But living in America is hard. I lived overseas most of my childhood, in poor third-world countries, so I was able to learn how lucky I am to have food, shelter, clothing, and love, but sometimes I wonder how it is even possible to teach these virtues in a country that is so consumer driven, egocentric, and materialistic. But how can you blame Americans? We have never seen anything else. Maybe it should be a requirement in our schools to make it necessary to visit another place where water doesn't come out of the faucet clean and safe. I don't know and I am very worried.
I think this year we will start with something small...we will ring the bell for the salvation army. I think that we should all pay it forward this year...and good things will happen :)
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Good post. I'm going to take Isabelle shopping to get toys for the Toys for Tots drive and let her pick out the toy and let her put it in the box at school. And as my kids get older, I'd love to take them to work at the Salvation Army to appreciate the warm meals that we're lucky enough to have every night.
ReplyDeleteWe started our new tradition of our Thankful Tree this year and even at 2, Isabelle sort of understands the idea of thankfulness.
Very well said! And I think it's great that you want to teach your children how lucky we are, it's so true. It sounds like you have the right perspective.
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