Our View: Are we as thankful as we should be?

Talk about it

It may be Thanksgiving, but do we stop to really consider how thankful we should be? Many people are challenged this year — the economy is bad, the job market is in flux and investments are dropping. In spite of the recession, however, we are still fortunate people.

Often at Thanksgiving dinner someone might ask, “What are you thankful for?”

Of course, there is not a wrong answer and the conversation may not last more than a minute or two. From the question comes a variety of answers, usually related to health, food, jobs, friends, God, etc. — in reality, we have many things for which to give thanks.

A couple of better questions may be these:

First, is Thanksgiving the only time we think of the many blessings we have received?

Second, do we really understand how much we have been blessed compared to the rest of the world?

Giving thanks, if we’re not already doing it, should be a daily activity.

Someone once said that being thankful is simply that act of stopping, noticing and acknowledging what we see around us. We don’t need a holiday to tell us when to be thankful or when to be nice to the people around us.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to remind us of our blessings, but there are some things we can do daily to express our gratitude. First, there is the power of prayer. It should be used to thank for blessings received and not always as a means to ask for something.

As far as people around us, little acts of kindness show gratitude. Tell someone that you are grateful for them in your life. A thank you is more than just being polite. It is acknowledging someone’s effort — no matter how great or small.

Do we really understand how thankful we should be? When we see the plight of many people around the world, those of us in America should be reminded how good we have it — bad economy and all! It seems that no matter how fortunate we are, however, we can always find something about which to complain. In reality, our lifestyle is nothing but a distant dream for the majority of world residents.

Take a moment for yourself and think about your life. Give pause to remember what’s going right in your life and what is satisfying in your life.

Our time on earth is relatively short. Don’t march through time and regret that you didn’t express gratitude or say what you wanted to say to relatives, friends and neighbors. Don’t march through life complaining about unimportant items and events.

Despite the bad economy, start by appreciating what we have and giving thanks in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Those daily acts will make the yearly celebration of Thanksgiving even more meaningful.

Tags: opinion, hudson, editorial, thanksgiving