Each year at the end of November, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Turkey and football are usually plentiful.
Thanksgiving holiday preparations begin, leading to turkey and shopping, and then more turkey and shopping, parties and more parties and ... well, you get the picture.
The stores are doing their part to get us in the holiday spirit by displaying their seasonal wares early again this year. Radio stations are already playing holiday songs.
The real blessings we are grateful for this year are intimately personal and varied. For many, the holiday has a deeper meaning - it can be a chance to recognize the bounty we share each day. This might mean health for ourselves and our loved ones, financial and job security, the love of family and friends, and the chance to live in a country that was built on the concepts of freedom.
But let’s also remember those in less fortunate circumstances. This has been a hard year for many. Economic hardships have enveloped many citizens as the cost of simply everything has risen beyond belief. Jobs have been lost, homes have been lost, pessimism about the future can actually be felt in the air.
Personally, I refuse to buy into the concept of a recession, a word being bandied about the airwaves so often and so easily.
As Americans, we have lived through difficult periods of time before. And we survived. Americans are inventive, strong and resilient. We are survivors.
Remember the saying, “you are what you think about?” That’s one of my mantras these days and, what do you know, there seems to be a brighter hue ahead in today’s tunnel of gloom.
Let’s take a moment this Thanksgiving holiday to remember the reasons we can celebrate and let's carry the fullness of the season with us throughout the year.
