jdean3 - Tales of Transformation

What a fabulous American tradition we have in Thanksgiving.  Even without the benefit of a history lesson, we continue to enjoy the annual traditions of this week as families and/or friends gather together.  Given the difficult recessionary environment we’ve experienced this year, the time we have with each other is more precious than ever and a welcomed break for all.  Even if we aren’t lucky enough to have all our loved ones at a single location, we can be thankful for our relationships and share their happiness on this day of Thanksgiving.

Normally I despise the long lines, crowds and the hustle of airports, toll roads and shopping malls.  But there is something about the week of Thanksgiving that calls me to all of it with a totally different attitude.  For some reason the week of Thanksgiving is above & beyond my normal rules of engagement and I actually enjoy the chaos of the crowds. [Note:  to be honest, so is Christmas eve—to my wife’s dismay I have always shopped this night until the stores closed. Even without buying a thing!]

At the risk of stealing some of the thunder from a post not yet ready for consumption (the end of this months post “the upside of downturns”), we have much to be thankful for if we have friends or family members to share time with and reflect on how much value we add to each others lives.  Its a perfect opportunity to reflect on our priorities, our relationships, our goals and our good fortune to be amongst loved ones.

It is also a fabulous example of showing how much we benefit individually from focusing on others.  In the midst of our hurried schedules we have all been guilty of taking each other for granted and simply letting our memories suffice for good times.  This week can change all that –  for everyone who simply takes stock in those around them.  Listen to their stories and share your own.

As I normally say at least one thing in every post that allows someone to take issue (or provide an alternative point of view), I would also like to add that I hope you avoid talking about  argumentative topics on this day/week of gathering.  We’ve got plenty of time to hash out the polarizing views of politics or religion or whatever else is the one topic that seems to tip the scale to negativity at your party (sports are still ok to take sides).  Preserve the time for creating new memories that will last for years to come.

Finally, as is our family tradition, I hope more folks have the opportunity to verbalize (at least privately) how thankful they are for those around them.

To add to the embarrassment of my immediate family members who can’t get over the fact that I am experimenting with such a public forum (even if only 28 people are my beta readers until Jan 1st), I submit the following claims of what I’m most publicly thankful for this season:

• That we are all alive and relatively healthy (flu bug made its way around this month)
• That we have the ability to travel and gather some family members together (Oklahoma, here we come)
• That all three of our kids have a TERRIFIC school year going down (grades, friendships, relative class enjoyment)
• Moriah was chosen for school mascot, Nathan’s surprising interest in futuring, Alex “nailed” his last term at RIT
• Ford stock and share are going up for the first time in MANY, MANY years

Happy Thanksgiving week.

claim token 9T6C52EA69RQ

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Tags: thanksgiving