Column: Something About Nothing

I am thankful this Thanksgiving for the turkey that gave his life so that I might eat turkey and dressing this Thanksgiving. Many turkeys give their lives each year in sacrifice to those who celebrate Thanksgiving in true tradition. There was an abundance of turkeys when the settlers came to America. Food was sparse, and turkey was easily accessible. The tradition is still celebrated today. It is time to thank Mr. Turkey for giving his life so unselfishly.

All kidding aside, I am thankful for being blessed enough to be able to put a Thanksgiving turkey on my table. I am thankful for the family that will come and share our meal. I am thankful for a day put aside to remember all that we are blessed with here in this country. I am thankful for our ancestors that worked hard so we could have a future.

It is so easy throughout the year to forget that we do have things to be thankful for. It is easier to find those experiences that we are unhappy with. It is easy to find fault with each other, with our government, with our jobs, with our churches and the list can go on.

I, too, have found myself in a complaining mode quite a bit throughout the year. The more I complain the more I forget to be thankful. When I feel I don’t have anything to be thankful for I forget to look for the blessings of tiny events in my life that remind me that there is hope.

I listen to the news and feel despair because of all the violence in our society. I feel despair because there are times when I wonder where all the honesty and integrity of the American people has gone.

Where are the people we can look up to and admire? They don’t have to be perfect people, but honest people who make mistakes, own up to their mistakes and wouldn’t steal from another. According to the news, our society seems to be rampant with discord.

Where is thankfulness and thanksgiving when people are bullying other people? Where is the blessing in homelessness and sickness? Where is the soul of those who are murdering and injuring others?

Black Friday is being moved up. People no longer are being given the gift of being able to spend holidays with their families. Lines are long for the latest and the greatest bargain. We are bombarded by the shopping message for Thanksgiving. We hurry to finish our dinner or we for go it all together for the shopping instead of a day of games and fun with family. That is our world today.

Yes, I listen and I watch and I wonder and I complain until a moment such as the purr of a kitten or the voice of a friend pulls me back to see the joy and wonder that is around me. These little bits and moments remind me that there is good in the people around us.

All of the news and the shopping frenzy and the headlines of the world dominate our lives if we let it. In reality I believe that there is more good news than bad news. I believe that we have more to be thankful for in the deeds and love of people than we know. We don’t shout our thankfulness the way the headlines shout the violence. For those that their only contact with the world is frenzied headlines they might not hear the silent ways that show us that we have something to be thankful for.

Hopefully the people who make the news on Thanksgiving Day and the day after are not the people who trample someone to get the best bargain. Hopefully, the news will be about the food that is given to the homeless, the families that spend time together, the people who give their time to be a blessing to someone else on Thanksgiving Day.

I can’t help but wonder what our world would be like if we shouted our thankfulness loudly and exuberantly every single day. If instead of doing it quietly, we would become the loud headlines. Would it change the world? Perhaps the world doesn’t need to be changed, just the headlines do.

You know I am a dreamer. That is a dream. I would like to believe I am going to be this energetic thankful person that doesn’t let the world get in the way of my Thanksgiving. But I am human, and you probably will hear me complaining and forgetting to keep thanksgiving in my heart, too.

However we choose to spend our Thanksgiving I hope it will be a time to be thankful. We should carry Thanksgiving in our heart all year long. Maybe instead of a New Year’s resolution we should make a Thanksgiving resolution to look for a moment of thankfulness every moment of our lives.

And if you should meet Mr. Turkey before your Thanksgiving dinner, remember to thank him, after dinner will be too late.

 

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.