November 26 2024
Thanksgiving is a day we set aside every year to gather with family and friends and stand in gratitude together. There’s usually one invited guest who has too much to drink and breaks a $40 stemmed wine glass, or spills cranberry sauce on the white carpeting. Little Charlotte blurts out she heard mom and dad discussing Uncle Larry’s prostate problem, and everyone is reminded how special family really is.
But Thanksgiving is so much more than that.
I think Thanksgiving should be celebrated every day.
Every day is worthy of gratitude, with food on the table being blessed, and prayers being said for our loved ones.
It doesn’t matter if you are a ‘party of one’ or a party of 21….being grateful for the blessings in our lives should be acknowledged every day.
The older we get, the more we realize that tomorrow may not come.
Every day we are gifted, is a day that deserves gratitude.
Regardless of how many side dishes are on the table…..you are at the table.
And I don’t mean the dining table…I mean the table of life.
If you have been through a heartbreaking loss and you cant bring yourself to go through the traditions you’ve participated in years past…then don’t.
Give yourself grace. Do something else. Do something you enjoy. Go somewhere that brings you peace. The day is about being thankful……not doing what everyone else is doing, or what you have always done in years past.
Navigating through loss has taught me that, although holidays will never be the same……maybe they aren’t meant to be.
Instead of sitting at a table full of food and family, I put a small ham in the roaster, make some cranberry relish, and stuffing. I pack it up in a bag and drive out to ‘the forest’ and sit with the deer, and whoever else decides to show up.
This is the journey I have been given, and this is where I belong, at least for now.
If your journey looks different that you thought it would….its simply because you are transitioning from one chapter to another.
It doesn’t mean it will always be this way….but it is that way today. The gift you give yourself, is a day filled with love and gratitude.
Learn to trust what you cannot see, and trust everything you feel in your heart. Chase what you feel until it becomes your next chapter.
And be thankful you have been given another day …to be grateful.
But that’s just my opinion..:)
