Thankfulness

Every Thanksgiving, every editorial writer, blogger and private diarist turns to the topic of "thankfulness" in the same predictable way that we will turn to Janus-like reflection and hope in about five weeks' time. It's a cliche, but so what? Isn't it ironic that the most spoiled, consumerist nation on the face of the Earth sets aside time to reflect on the fact of the mere survival of its early English settlers? Thankful for health, for having a roof overhead, for enough food to last a long, cold winter. While we all learned the story of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower in elementary school, what many of us were too young to learn was the "backstory" and that half of the passengers died during their first winter in North America.

I think that this Thanksgiving, more than many, we might be able to better appreciate the 1621 Thanksgiving. We also face a long, cold winter in the United States, and while we're grateful for what we have today, we don't know what these cold winds will bring upon us. So we are grateful, but guarded. We know that we must appreciate what we have, and we accept that a great deal of hard work lies ahead for us.

I think denial is less of an option than ever before. While we might follow the annual tradition of running up our credit card balances at the mall (after all, didn't we spend our way out of the last downturn?) there's a new attitude of frugality that is gaining momentum. And it's not just the enforced frugality of lost jobs or foreclosed homes. Many Americans without immediate financial problems are looking around and asking - is this spending frenzy what it's all about?

Increasingly, our attitudes are turning toward an appreciation of what we have. As Emerson wrote “If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.” Miracles are around us every day, and yet we have failed to look - there was something on television, or something happening at work, or our friends were posting news....

Distraction is at the root of thanklessness. Too preoccupied to consider what we have, yet still vulnerable to the advertisements for what we are supposed to want or gossip about whom we are supposed to envy, we cannot focus, cannot realize how lucky we are.

If you want to give yourself a present, give yourself a reminder of how fortunate you are. It's easy enough to do. Fill a bag with some cans of food and look up the location of the local food pantry. Deliver the bag yourself. You will go through the rest of the day with a different attitude.