Thanksgiving is Not About Turkey
Isn’t it great that we dedicate one day of the year for gratitude? Thanksgiving isn’t about turkey, or shouldn’t be. It’s about reflecting on the people and the things in our life for which we are truly grateful. It should also be about reflecting on the important value of gratitude, and being grateful for important values.
In my book I Think Therefore I Am Wrong I contemplate on where we get reminders and education of moral values in a culture that is increasingly relativistic and egocentric. The fact is that we not only do we need to dedicate a day to the elevation of gratitude but we also need to do it for other essential values. And the day should be such a reminder of the importance of critical values, that we honor those values every week, if not every day.
It was only when writing I Think Therefore I Am Wrong that I fully understood the importance of key values. Being forgiving, or compassionate, or altruistic, isn’t just about being a “nice” person. These values, I identify 20 in my book, have been the cornerstone of wisdom for many sages across the course of human history. And, I now understand, that such a vision is not only about creating a cohesive and effective society, it is also about developing personal effectiveness.
If you are trained to be compassionate, forgiving or practice any of these key values, you have trained your brain. You have trained your frontal lobe to manage emotions. You have trained your brain not be impulsive and buy the critical time to realize there are many different perceptions for the same situation. You have trained your brain to be empathic and compassionate. You have basically trained yourself in emotional intelligence. Values are a key part of wisdom. A narcissistic perspective driven by an impulsive, emotional response might capture eyeballs but it is the opposite of wisdom.
So why stop at Thanksgiving and gratitude? How about dedicating one day a year to celebrate some of the following: compassion, altruism, forgiveness, mercy, humility, kindness, honesty, mindfulness, moderation and patience? These are essential at both an individual and a societal level. Without these values, humans are heading the wrong way down the evolutionary trail.
Counseling Psychologist, Nationally Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist & Tennis Instructor, Ordained Minister, Professor
4 年Thank you for thinking of me and sending your article. I greatly appreciate it. I hope you are doing well?
Counseling Psychologist, Nationally Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist & Tennis Instructor, Ordained Minister, Professor
4 年How about building an authentic life centered on all of those critical, but often missing qualities and display them daily? Although being an eternal optimist, it is tempered by the reality of our modern world in which the critical values you so elegantly pinpoint to are all too often missing. Your article is essential for those who either forget or who do not routinely practice human values. It is a wonderful reminder! Thank you! John A Hays, Jr., M.S.Ed., Ph.D. ??