Celebrating Thanksgiving Everyday

Yesterday was one of those partly sunny, Indian summer kind of days. I went out for a walk during my lunch break. The fresh air was delightful and I was happily lost in my solitude. Most of us aren't farmers but this time of year is still a time of harvest and one should count their blessings and focus their heart on thanksgiving. We are little more than a week away from the 4th Thursday of November when we will gather with friends and family to pause from our usual daily rat races to remember all there is in our lives for which we should be grateful. One of my friends told me that every night when he prays he thanks God for what he has...and what he does not have. So often when we reflect on what we do not have, we only think of good things. We fail to be thankful for all the bad things we do not have. I suppose true thanksgiving is a balance of being grateful for the good that is present and the absence of what is bad or distressing. The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday should be about more than just a great meal. It should also be a wake up call to celebrate thanksgiving everyday. We should always be grateful for life and love and family and friends and all things joyful. If we are blessed with some material prosperity, at least those things most basic for a comfortable life, all the better.

I was having a discussion with my wife yesterday when I made a typical male response by saying, "You women want to control everything and then you whine when you have so much work to do"! This response proves I am not always as wise as some people think I am but there is validity in what I am saying about some people's need...men and women...to be in control. If you are a control freak, you are only burdening yourself with more work and unnecessary stress. It is freeing to let things go and to trust other people. An obsessive need to control gives some an illusion of power. There is greater power in letting go. By letting go you free yourself and empower others in a positive way. Letting go does not mean freeing oneself from responsibility. You may be in a position of having accountability. By letting go and trusting others, however, you are sharing accountability. Instead of controlling others, manage their trust. I would rather manage other's trust and accomplishments than to own and be forced to accept all their failures because of my obsessive need to be in control.