Happy Thanksgiving!
I want you, my community of readers, to know how thankful I am for each of you. Thank you, for taking a few minutes to read the weekly blog post. Thank you, for sharing my words with others. I am grateful for your trust to deliver words that will inspire and motivate.
I recall last year, how reluctant my guests were to verbalize one thing they were thankful for, and the time to ask was not when everyone gathered around the table in a hangry state. I will try something new this
year. Maybe something about a Thanksgiving memory.
My childhood memories are full of a crowded table, lively conversation, and smells. The best was my Granny’s cornbread dressing. This morning I was scanning comments in a Facebook group. The discussion centered around favorite Thanksgiving foods, some even shared recipes.
I couldn’t help but feel a warm spot in my heart with all the Grandma recipes. My Granny taught me how 
to make her dressing. It was what I looked forward to the most, and I wanted to get this dish perfected. She let me try one year when I was about twenty-one. The last thing she said was, “Remember to taste so you can get the sage just right.” I tasted and tasted and added and added. My Dad came through the kitchen, grabbing a taste on the tip of a fork. “Needs more salt.” He proclaimed. I continued to add and taste. Rich aromas of sage and onion filled the house. My dressing came out of the oven with a crowd gathering around the stove. Each had a spoon or fork in hand. Waiting for the approval of my elders I screamed. The coveted dressing was green?
I can laugh about it now with glee, but it wasn’t funny then.
I recently read an article in an old Psychology Today. It said three in five Americans say their least favorite activity on Thanksgiving day is reflecting on what they are Thankful for. I was surprised. But I wasn’t surprised at what they wanted to do instead. Watch football, text, and stream on cell phones, play with a pet, read a book or binge watch TV.
Has sports, TV, and cell phones overtaken our society to the point we can’t acknowledge we are even grateful we have them? How sad. Celebrating family comes second to staring at a screen tiny to large. Perhaps we have lost the heart of being thankful and replaced gratitude with idolatry.
Friends, I believe now is the time to start Thankful-Living. Simply acknowledging daily what we are thankful for and in some way tell someone why you are grateful. It will take less than five minutes a day.
Tell someone they make a difference in your life.
Write a Thank You note.
Write a Love Letter.
Generously give to those less fortunate than you.
Pray.
Did you know thankful people live longer, are happier, develop better relationships, improve their mental and physical health and have higher self-esteem than those who do not practice being thankful?
Those are benefits I can live with; each can improve my life.
What about you? Willing to give gratitude a try?
Will join me today? Let’s add Thankful-living to the core of how we live our lives.
Today, I am thankful for sunshine and blue skies as I clean house.
Lyn, I enjoyed you sharing your childhood memory, I too put in way to much sage making my grandmother’s stuffing recipe for the first time. I think we have lost the one-on-one connection and interaction due to our phones and social media. We need to be an example, once again to our younger generations around our Thanksgiving tables. Happy Thanksgiving to you, I hope you have your table full, your tummy full and your heart overflowing!