We always get together with Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles and cousins. The food is, of course, wonderful, and I love watching football and playing together with my kids and family.
The real reason I love thanksgiving is because my father.
He always made a big deal out of Thanksgiving. He made sure we understood how blessed we were. We would sing songs about thanksgiving, and have a family gathering where we would write down what we were grateful for, and share that with the other family members.
I still have fond memories of those days with my mom at the piano and dad and us kids in the living room together.
Dad never let us to be “spoiled”. He hated the entitlement mentality. If we wanted something he taught us we needed to go out and earn it.
Once we had done that, he taught us we should still be grateful for it. He worked extremely hard building his company when I was a little boy, and he always acknowledged God’s hand in all the blessings we received as a result of it.
Everyone who lives in American has something to be grateful for. Many of us have so many blessings it would be virtually impossible to count them all. Our standard of living far surpasses most of the world, and even those who live in extreme poverty have opportunity to raise themselves up through hard work and education, both of which are available in abundance in America.
The shift from the focus on family and gratitude to shopping, shopping and more shopping on Thanksgiving is not only blatantly disrespectful, but damaging to our society.
Society’s endless desire for more, more, more, never satisfies and people are always left unhappy wanting more but never being satisfied. They are left unhappy because they aren’t grateful.
Regardless of societal changes some things never change.
50 million people could agree that gravity doesn’t exist. They could demonize you and make you feel stupid for believing in gravity, but that will NEVER change the principle of gravity.
Principles are not based on opinions or social acceptance. Principles don’t change. There are certain laws and facts that, no matter what the masses decide to believe, will simply never change.
The more we can find those principles of truth, and live our lives in harmony with them, the easier it becomes to achieve our goals and reach the success we want financially, spiritually, etc. Ultimately the happier we can become.
That’s why I make an effort to seek out true principles and try to live by them. One of these principles is the principle of gratitude.
Being grateful is a principle of happiness. Have you ever met someone who is never satisfied with what they have? No matter what happens they find something to complain about. These people are perpetually unhappy.
Focusing on our blessings and being grateful for what we do have is the best way to live in peace and happiness.
Living this way we are content and peaceful…and it allows God to bless us with more blessings in the future.
That is why I consider Thanksgiving to be a sacred holiday. I don’t go shopping, I don’t worry about black Friday sales, and I hate that stores are open now thanksgiving for shopping.
It’s the one day of the year dedicated to being grateful for what we DO have…and society has turned it into a day focused on what we don’t. (I always feel bad for the many people who have to leave their families and go to work on Thanksgiving just so the rest of the people can go buy something they don’t need.)
Thanksgiving is my day to spend with my family and focus on the goodness and blessings I’ve been given. I love it and look forward to it and I hope I can teach my children to do the same.
Hopefully you have a great Thanksgiving holiday we have so much to be grateful for in this great country!
To Freedom, Prosperity and Independence,
Brett Kitchen
