I don’t believe in setting aside
one day a year as Thanksgiving Day, especially in the ‘age of COVID-19’. Liz and I will be celebrating separate from our families this year, but that's OK. I have always thought that we should be thankful more often than once a year, on the fourth Thursday
of November. We should take the time during this week and the next and the next
to show gratitude to everyone who has made a difference in our lives.
When life is going well, gratitude
allows us to celebrate and magnify the goodness. But what about when life goes
badly, like these past nine months? In the midst of the pandemic and the economic
maelstrom that has gripped our country, should we feel grateful under such awful
circumstances? Yes. It is essential. In fact, it is precisely under crisis conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life.
Trials and suffering can actually refine and deepen gratefulness if we allow them to show us not to take things for granted. Thanksgiving, was born and grew out of hard times. The first Thanksgiving took place after nearly half the pilgrims died from a rough winter and year. It became a national holiday in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War and was moved to its current date in the 1930s following the Depression.
According to Robert Emmons at Berkley, when times are good, people take prosperity for granted and begin to believe that they are invulnerable. In times of uncertainty, though, people realize how powerless they are to control their own destiny. If you begin to see that everything you have, everything you have counted on, may be taken away, it becomes much harder to take it for granted. But gratitude does not come easily or naturally in a crisis. It’s easy to feel grateful for the good things. In
the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize. In the face of
brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude
has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with
hard times. I agree!
So if you are distant from family and friends on Thanksgiving this year because of the pandemic, it really is OK. Hopefully by next year, we will be back to what is more normal. Hopefully, we will be grateful that we all got through this awful time together and will be sitting at the Thanksgiving table together, intact. And in the meantime, just be grateful every single day for what we DO have!
My success as a Realtor in
Sarasota, Florida relies on the recommendations and support of those close to
me, and I want to take a moment and say a heartfelt thank you to my wife, Liz,
who is the wind beneath my wings, to my family and friends, to Re/Max Alliance Group and to all of the loyal
people in my life who continuously support me. I am very, very grateful.
I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving...stay safe and be well!
