Slow Down, Give Thanks

Time flies. It seems like yesterday I was walking down the aisle getting my high school diploma. That was a little over ten years ago now. Now I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful son; a home and two dogs. I have responsibilities now that I never thought I deserved and my life is more than I ever imagined. Indeed it is another year later in my life and I am a little older; perhaps a little wiser but maybe not.

With 2011 almost behind us it is Holiday season and I am totally unprepared.

It seems like every year the Christmas advertisements start earlier and earlier. Did they start in August this year? Halloween was just a few days ago and Thanksgiving (increasingly becoming the most overlooked holiday in America) hasn't even happened yet. In fact, it is still three weeks away and we are all as already focused on preparing for Christmas. Slow down a little bit!! It is still almost 8 weeks away for crying out loud.

I love Halloween so I am very happy about the cultural love for the holiday in general. I also love Thanksgiving and it seems to me like we are beginning to disregard it because it is too close to that day where we all get presents. Corporate marketing has totally steered our culture towards Christmas because that is the money day. Meanwhile we are overlooking the symbolic beginning of our culural heritage.

It is true that things didn't quite go down the way we like to romanticize it in our history books but think about it. The first people to celebrate the day of Thanksgiving had true goodness in their hearts for even considering celebrating the day. They were thankful for something as simple as being alive and gathering the harvest.

If you put it in such simple terms and just think of the day as a way of stepping back and slowing down and being thankful for something in your life, anything, you might be surprised how much the day can mean to you.

I used to think that it was just a day to gorge yourself on "turkey and fixins" while watching football all day and sleeping through halftime but I have come to feel that it is something so much more. I guess it is the kid factor or maybe that I am getting older and with each passing day I become more thankful for each one but there is something special about getting together with family and celebrating eachother.

As a parent (heck as a person) I want you to step back during your Christmas shopping trips this month and think for a second what you are really thankful for. Take a look around you and think about what makes you happy in your life and what you can't live without.

If you have children tell them you are thankful for them. Depending on what age they are they will either say thank you or something resembling disgust or disdain (I am thinking about the teens in your lives) but just know that they will get the message someday and they will never forget that you are thankful for them. Someday they will return the sentiment. If you are thankful for your spouse tell them. If you are thankful for your job, your house, your car; whatever it is just take a moment and step back and think about it and just enjoy it.

There truly isn't enough time in the day and time seems to pass by so much faster every year. Maybe you will thank yourself for taking the moment to step back from the news cycle and the sales to be appreciative of life.

It truly is too short so make the most of it. What am I thankful for?

And so much more ...