Be Thankful For What You Have
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the national holiday where we should pause and give thanks for the blessings of our abundance.
Historically, those in many different countries celebrated a day of thanksgiving during the time of their harvests. What many Americans refer to as the “first Thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims in October of 1621 after their first harvest in the New World. According to historical documents as written by Edward Winslow, who was an attendee at the event, the feast lasted three days and was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had been accustomed to celebrating days of thanksgiving, offering thanks to God for bountiful harvests, military victories, the end of droughts and other blessings.
Growing up in Tahlequah between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, Thanksgiving was usually a pretty quiet day where the things most looked forward to were mom’s special cornbread dressing and dumplings, then sitting with family and watching football, most notably the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. Sometimes we might actually catch a college game, such as Texas versus Texas A&M or maybe even Oklahoma and Nebraska, though those games were usually held off until Friday or Saturday. Some family members took advantage of the last days of deer season and were in the woods early in the morning, coming in right about mealtime. Stores were closed until Friday morning, when they would open and usher in the Christmas shopping season.
Today, Thanksgiving seems to be a day to have a big noontime meal and get going on Christmas shopping. Many department stores have pushed their sales earlier and earlier, with some being open all day trying to be the first to get your shopping dollar.
The blatant greed and un-thankfulness for the things we have I think is what has disappointed me in my later years. I’m not sure if it has always been there or if it is getting worse, but I am sure noticing it more. If you have a job making around $30,000 a year in Cherokee County, you in truth are among the upper half of the wealthiest people in the world when you look at the statistics. The latest statistics from Gallup indicate that with cost of living worldwide and currency converted to U.S. Dollars, the average household income is $9,733. In some countries like Venezuela, the average salary is $2.20 per month (in U.S. dollars).
When I see people complaining about the need for more I want to tell them what I often tell my children and their friends – why don’t you go volunteer and live in a foreign country for a short while and see how things are over there. I think you will come to appreciate the things we have here in the U.S. a lot more.
Dr. Suess summed it up pretty well in the children’s book Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are when he stated “You ought to be thankful a whole heaping lot, for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not.”
As we are cleaning up kitchen tomorrow and putting away the stuffing, I hope each of us can take a moment and be grateful for the freedoms we have in this great nation and show some appreciation for the things we have, especially family, friends, and overall safety and security. As we will be enjoying our day, many around the world and even here at home will be truly suffering and will wish they could be enjoying the things we often take for granted.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Randy Gibson is the CEO of RDG Communications Group, LLC, and the former director of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce and the Texas State Rifle Association.
