As the holiday season approaches, we spend weeks preparing for Thanksgiving. It is important to clean the house, organize and buy food, and prepare your home for a fun holiday. However, Thanksgiving is not just one day a year. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate being grateful for all that we have, but the world tends to quickly ignore this holiday to make room for Christmas. Holidays can be so hectic that it often feels like they’ve passed by in the blink of an eye.
Ironically, ads often skip Thanksgiving because they’re busy making room for Christmas. As soon as Halloween is over, television and the Internet are filled with advertisements for toys, decorations, and other Christmas gift ideas. Christmas is not about giving presents, making Christmas cards, or putting up Christmas lights. It’s about the celebration of the Savior. Society often spends Thanksgiving eating dinner with loved ones for a few hours and then buying Christmas presents for loved ones.
I didn’t like Thanksgiving when I was a kid. Because I felt like Thanksgiving was boring because I had to sit down and eat a lot of food and I had to do no activities. I also had a hard time thinking of things to be grateful for. But as I grew up, I learned the importance of Thanksgiving. Being grateful every day has changed my attitude towards gratitude. Gratitude is not something to be celebrated for a few hours on a Thursday in November, but rather something to be pursued every day. When we choose to be grateful for the people around us and what we have, Thanksgiving becomes more than just a one-day event, but something we celebrate all year long.
Here are three ways I’ve learned to celebrate Thanksgiving year-round.
1. Don’t take people for granted.
One of the ways I practice Thanksgiving all year long is by expressing gratitude to those around me. I always say thank you when my husband does something for me. I try to acknowledge his actions and efforts in our marriage. Thank you to the grocery store employee who filled the bags with groceries and made the phone calls. I am thankful for the employees at the store I go to and the staff at my local church. For some, gratitude may mean little, but today it is a lost art.
Many young people no longer say thank you when someone does something for them. But when I’m happy to thank someone for something, it takes my focus off of me and onto someone else. This acknowledges that the other person is valuable and that their actions are seen and recognized. When I appreciate others, I show them that I care about them and don’t take them for granted.
2. Call a loved one
Thanksgiving is often a time of gathering with loved ones you haven’t seen all year, so you should take the time to check in on them. I’m not good at calling or texting other people on a regular basis, but I’ve learned that if I want to celebrate Thanksgiving all year long, I need to reach out and check in often. Sometimes a simple text message asking how you are doing can do wonders for your relationships with others. They make me remember them and feel that they are essential to me.
I talk to my father and mother-in-law often and understand that they are important. Plus, say something meaningful when you send a card. I told them how grateful I was for how they had helped me throughout my life and what they meant to me. Often we wait for the funeral to talk about what the person meant to us. But celebrating Thanksgiving means taking the time to tell people how much they mean to me before they’re gone.
3. Celebrate life
Thanksgiving often means a big feast. This is to remember the feasts when the Pilgrims and Indians came to America. Once a year, we have a big feast to celebrate the event. We pull out quality china, use cloth napkins, and make flashy displays so everyone can enjoy it, but it’s a short meal, so it goes by quickly. But this life is short. We must take time to celebrate life often. My husband and I have frequent Thanksgivings, many times throughout the year.
Every time the kids come home for the holidays, we pull out our fancy Chinese and make a big meal. That’s because we had dinner together every night for years. But now that they’re gone, that time is more fleeting than ever. We must take time to celebrate them and spend time with them. We always celebrate when our children do well in school or when there is another celebratory occasion. Often we focus on the trials we are undergoing, but we usually don’t celebrate life’s victories well. We try to take the kids out for ice cream or host special events when things are going well.
Life is meant to be celebrated. It is a special event, an ongoing miracle, and something to be savored. Therefore, there is no need to wait to defeat worthy China. Please use it for small celebrations.
No need to wait for the holidays!
Thanksgiving is an event celebrated with loved ones. But you don’t have to wait for the holidays. Celebrating life’s small moments is also part of being grateful. Has your daughter learned to do a cartwheel? celebrate! Did your son memorize all the different types of dinosaurs in his favorite book? Celebrate! Did your husband finish that woodworking project? celebrate! Have you finally mastered that embroidery stitch pattern? celebrate! We need to thrive in life, not just survive. You don’t have to wait one day a year to celebrate the most meaningful people and things in your life.
Being grateful means acknowledging that both the big and small things in life are most important. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving to tell people you’re grateful. Call your loved ones. Send an email or text message to show your appreciation. Find things they have done for you that you have never thanked them for and be sure to thank them. This gentle reminder that they mean something in your life will mean more to them than you realize.
Celebrating the little things in life makes life more meaningful for us and our loved ones. When they are valued for doing the right thing, it only strengthens the bond between us and our children, or between our loved ones and us.
Thanksgiving is a short-lived holiday, so it’s over and gone in the blink of an eye. Still, celebrating Thanksgiving all year long allows me to spend time with my loved ones and let them know they are important to me, not just one day a year, but every day.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Drazen Zigic
Michelle S. Lazurek is an award-winning multi-genre author, speaker, pastor’s wife, and mother. She is a literary agent with Wordwise Media Services and host of The Spiritual Reset podcast. Her new children’s book, Hall of Faith, encourages children to understand that God can be trusted. When I’m not working, I enjoy drinking Starbucks lattes, collecting 80’s memorabilia, and spending time with my family and dog. For more information, please visit her website www.michellelazurek.com.
