Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Thanksgiving is a joyous invitation to shower the world with love and gratitude. Amy Leigh Mercree
Today is Thanksgiving Day, the day set aside to be grateful for the bounty and beauty in our lives, good fortune, family, friends, and freedom.
If we are free of want and oppression, and free to build a family with who we choose, we also have to accept the responsibility for that family and that freedom. I remember on the farm being too young to help Mom and Dad finish the grain threshing before friends came for Thanksgiving dinner. Why do some memories stick with us, and others don’t?
Thanksgiving is a harvest holiday and one of the things people looked forward to on the farm was when the fall work was done. There is a quiet satisfaction in completing our tasks and knowing we are ready for the approaching winter and life on the farm in the fall was getting ready for winter. What could be fixed was repaired; the cold cellar was lined with canned fruit, pickles, jams, and jellies. The freezer was full of vegetables from the garden, and once it got colder the unpleasant job of butchering chickens, a pig, and a cow to fill the freezer with meat happened.
Memories from childhood go with us wherever we go, and they color who we become. Being a farm girl from Saskatchewan has colored my life. The lessons learned on the farm I could have learned no other way, it was a wonderful way to grow up and I loved it, but I also wanted to leave and knew I was leaving from the age of thirteen. Is it strange to love something so much, and yet not want it for oneself?
Perhaps I thought there was an easier more fun life out there. One of the things I’ve learned is there is no easy, and there is no free. We get what we put into life and it is the easy choices we fall into that often lead to a hard life and the hard choices where we delay gratification that leads to an easy and happy life.
What if today, we were just grateful for everything? Charlie Brown
When we look at people in mid-life and envy them for where they are, what were we doing when they were doing the work that would lead them to this point? If we quit in the middle of something we don’t reap the rewards. If we didn’t take the chance to build something it didn’t get built, and it takes longer to build something than many people think. Overnight success takes about fifteen years, and most of the time someone slogged away for years before becoming successful at…
We won’t reap what we didn’t sow, and even if we think we are doing all the right things the market might not be right for what we are producing, or everyone might be producing the same thing, and some people die before their work becomes recognized. If we can be a hero to our children, an example of a life well lived with perseverance, good cheer, and character, isn’t that what we should work toward?
Death in the end will come to all of us, and we will leave behind memories in the hearts and minds of those who loved us. If our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren look back on the time they spent with us fondly, and some of their treasured memories are time spent with us we will have a well-lived life even if we never accomplish all we set out to accomplish.
The memories we make now will live on in the hearts and minds of those we love. It is worth the effort to create memories sitting around the Thanksgiving table. The loud and boisterous laughter will reverberate throughout our lives, and we never know when it might be the last time someone is sitting at our table. We need to take advantage of the opportunities to celebrate with people we love while we can.
Can we share a meal, make a call, and spend time with those we love? Happy Thanksgiving!
Be consistent in your dedication to showing your gratitude to others. Gratitude is a fuel, a medicine, and spiritual and emotional nourishment. Steve Maraboli
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. Henry David Thoreau
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. Melody Beattie
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
