Thanks + Giving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving – our national holiday – but I wonder if you really know what it’s about. If you guess the Pilgrims and what was known as a harvest festival, then you’re right. If you guess it originated in 1798 with a proclamation by George Washington, you’re also right. If you guess it was declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 who declared a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," then you’re right again. Finally, if you guess that Thanksgiving is the gateway to the holiday season, then you’re right once again. Well, this blog is not about history (mostly), but I want to invite each of you to more deeply embrace the undercurrent of this holiday.

First and foremost, it is NOT about Black Friday – yet many of you have been awake and standing in lines even before this blog hit your email inbox at 6:30 a.m. to get those incredible “deals.” Over the past couple of hundred years, Thanksgiving has come to mean so many different things and perhaps too many different things. That’s why I want to invite each of you and all of us to bring the literal meaning of Thanksgiving into your lives and hearts.

Consider the holiday’s name – Thanksgiving – which is literally Thanks + Giving, which has mostly come to mean that it’s a day for giving thanks. And this concept – giving thanks – is often limited to the act of giving thanks on Thanksgiving when you gather with friends and family for the massive feast. Certainly, this is one way to interpret “Thanksgiving,” but what if you instead choose to experience Thanks + Giving?

We start with thanks, which is all about being grateful and giving that gratitude away in the form of thanks. Who are you thankful for in your life? What are you thankful for in your life? For the what in your life, you can give thanks. For the who in your life, you must let them know. Let people who matter in your life know that they matter. Let people who you are grateful to have in your life know that you’re grateful. Let people have have impacted or are impacting your life know the ways they are an impact. Sharing your gratitude with those who are part it is an amazing gift to give.

We then turn to giving. Rather than only giving thanks, what if we embrace the holiday of Thanks + Giving as a holiday for giving (literally). Yes, some of you take this time of year to engage in acts of giving, perhaps serving a meal or delivering food to those in need. These are beautiful acts, and what of the rest of you who seize the day solely for yourself? And what if we all chose to make engage in one intentional and substantial act of giving, whether it’s hands on or writing a check to that cause, organization or person in need?

Let’s take Thanks + Giving literally and make it a rich experience of gratitude and giving. Imagine how good it will feel to share your gratitude and to genuinely give to others. Imagine the impact that your expressed gratitude and purposeful giving will have on others. Imagine the hope that will be inspired and experienced through all of these acts of Thanks + Giving. We’ve had Thanksgiving in our lives and world for hundreds of years, and maybe it’s time for something new! Make this Thanksgiving something really special!

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