USA and Thanksgiving and Real Gratitude
In the USA we celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday. Celebrating and being thankful is not easy for a lot of us this year, because many people are very sad about the direction our government is headed.I imagine that there have been many years that people had to rev up some spirit and take a second look at that for which they are thankful. In the US, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that all can celebrate together, so it is even bigger than Christmas.
In spite of everything, this year there is much for which to be thankful. Every day of our lives we have to cultivate the art of being grateful for what we have, instead of being overwhelmed by what we have lost, or that we will or may lose. Mumbling a few words is not a real and soul changing feeling of gratitude.
Being grateful does not mean that we are satisfied or complacent. We need to work to make the world a better place and to look around us to see what we can do to help others.
I know I do not do enough to head the world in a better direction or to focus on caring for others but that is still what I should be doing. I am trying to increase my involvement and to be more focused on the needs of others.
Gratitude needs to be practiced and when you do practice gratitude, it usually motivates you to help others because you don’t feel so deprived yourself. Gratitude is one of the best gifts you can give yourself though. It just makes you a happier person.
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Hello Rose,
you have the Thanksgiving-Day in the States which has an equivalent here in Germany called Erntedankfest. This event leads back to the 3rd century first celebrated within the Roman Catholic circle.
Snr. Pedro Menendez de Aviles celebrated it for the first time on American ground in St. Augustine / Florida at the 8 of September 1565.
Bothe churches here in Europe know and celebrate this event mostly at the last sunday od september when all the harvest is been done. It is not a family-come-together day as you have in the States, it has a deep character of religon cos people thank God for all the crops given to them will satisfy hunger during the dark month of the year.
I hope Pres. Obama will safe the life of the the turkey at the end of his curatorship???
Michael, that is very interesting history that you shared. At one time Germans were the largest immigrant group to the United States and many towns have German groups that celebrate Octoberfest, which is what we call it here. On the light side, I think President Obama pardoned two turkeys yesterday. Traditions get started and sometimes we don’t know how or why but the harvest and celebration and Thanks is easy to understand. Thank you for your comment Michael.
With pleasure Rose, with pleasure.
With all due respect, Michael… I, personally am more worried for our country with the newest elected leader. Whether President Obama pardons the turkey or not is not irrelevant to me.
This Thursday, friends and families across the United States will gather to give thanks, spend time with loved ones and enjoy a festive meal. But before the First Family sits down to their Thanksgiving dinner, President Obama will continue a long-cherished White House tradition and pardon the final turkey of his presidency.
Pam, I won’t be celebrating an election this year, but I have to carry on with life and enjoy what I can. I have had a truckload of bad luck and the election may bring more misery to others than all my problems. I can hope that good things will happen or I can blame the guys in office and tell some people, “I told you so”; or I can hope that people will wise up and throw the bad guys out ASAP.We need leaders with grace and dignity who inspire and lead people and act civilized. I don’t think that is too much to ask. Thank you for your comment. Pam.
You are welcome, Rose. Thank god for freedom of speech. You and I share the same feelings about the election results.
Hello Pam,
yes you’re so right saying that the election result in your country worries you more at the present moment. Many of us here in Europe feel he same.
In all of my respect Pam I have to admit; President Obama maybe has made some mistake within the last years, which I don’t know, but most of them are due to the lobbying of Parliament. He still is and he was a great President for the USA.
Obama done nothing good for USA all he done was look out for Muslims.
The USA is the only country in the world where the word ” think positive ” was first founded and where it has been developed until its highest level.
That makes it possible for the American people to enter a plane in full trust for a pilot who has never spend a second behind the control stick.
Michael, Amazing. Think Positive works very well, but thinking stupid should not be part of it, if it is to work.
Michael, sometimes when something just isn’t working a fresh perspective is needed . I still maintain give it a chance
ndb77, Do you remember 2008, and when Obama took office and what the economy was like?
I think that Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all our blessings and to look forward to all the possibilities our future may hold. Including four years of having a President that owes no one but the american people. A President that is more concerned about the United States then any thing else in the world. As a Washington outsider I wish him all possible success !
jw1953, you are right about Thanksgiving.
jw1953, you are also right about Trump.
A great man once said we having nothing to fear but fear itself ! I think that the people of the US should remember that.
I must assume from your post that you do not care Donald Trump. May I ask why?