I love thanksgiving. The turkey, football, family, and of course the shopping. I don’t have a big family in United States, so I often get jealous when I hear my friends having a big family gathering for the thanksgiving day bonanza; cousins from CA, aunt/uncle from TX, grandparents from MD…all I got is my parents and my grandparents in MA – not that it’s bad, but it’s not fun/loud/wild either. It’s just another US-like holiday for us.
Because the thanksgiving isn’t really a crazy day for us, I usually use this day to think about how my past year went – there were definitely good moments but a lot more bad/regrettable moments.
This past Sunday, I visited my old church – the church I went during my high school. I was bit surprised to see some old faces still attending the same church, but definitely great to catch up and how they’re doing. Anyway, the pastor talked about the thanksgiving day. He mentioned that we celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts with family, friends, and love ones when we should really celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We’re missing the whole (and actually the only) purpose of Christmas Day. Same with thanksgiving day. The holiday ha slowly (but definitely) becoming a eating bonanza and shopping madness (I’ll talk more about Black Friday in another post).
So let’s take a step back from all the madness and think about some people or things that we’re thankful for this year. After all, it’s thanks-giving day.
1. I’m thankful that I am healthy.
This can be tricky one. Most people are pretty healthy and don’t really appreciate their physical beings. But how about we’re really sick? requiring a constant medical checkups, different medications, and not being able to eat certain foods? The life can be very miserable. I’d hate this world for giving me such a wounded body, always complain about certain things, and even lose my optimism. But, I’m perfectly healthy. No medication, no routine visits to doctors, no limits to what I eat or what I can’t do. It’s great. After all, if you aren’t healthy, your job don’t matter, your tv don’t matter, nothing matters in your life. Health is the no.1 priority and I’m really thankful.
2. I’m thankful that I have a job, a great job.
We all know of the economic status this year. It sucks. It’s pathetic. People lose jobs weeks after weeks. I was one of them in the beginning of the year. But I found myself a new job in the summer and now I’m very happy and fortunate to work for a great organization. I must say, it’s whole lot better than my previous job. The unemployment rate in the United States has surpassed 10% nationally – meaning every 1 out of 10 people do not have a job in this country. Other people are barely hanging onto their jobs even though they hate what they do no see vision in their current position because they fear that they won’t be able to find a better job in this terrible market. I happened to be a person with a job – not just a job, a great job. I love where I work, love the people I work with, love what I do, and most importantly, I see a future in this organization. I’m truly thankful for this.
3. I’m thankful for the friends.
Since moving to DC 6 months ago, one of biggest things I worried about was friends. I didn’t know anybody in Virginia and it would be hard to fit in a group when everybody already kinda knows each other. I did find a nice church (maybe too nice) and great small group that I love. I must say, I don’t think I’m quite friendly with all of them, but maybe some day I can be. Just give little more time. My dad is bugging me about girls in the area and I should be going after a cute one. He’s not wrong, but I think it’s little too early. Right now, I’m just thankful I have few friends and great church I go to. That’s all I can ask for.
4. God above all.
He provided all things for me. The health, the job, the friends, financial freedom, cool gadgets, etc… All things. I believe. I’m glad I found him in my life. I’m glad he accepted me for who I am. I’m glad he’s my friend. I’m glad he watches over me….at all times.What more could I ask for.
Thanksgiving should be more than food & football. Don’t get me wrong, I love food & football and little bit of shopping too. But it’s not a day designed for those purposes. I think it’s more than that. So why not just take a moment and give thanks to those who influenced you this year?
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