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A personal Thanksgiving project
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Make giving thanks a habit, not just a holiday.
Turkey day is just three weeks away! I love Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays. When our children were all young and still at home, we'd have our traditional Thanksgiving feast. The house was always filled with wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen. We enjoyed watching the Macy's parade with its floats, bands, and balloons. The kids would wave at Santa as he rode by at the end.
When it was time to eat, we'd enjoy delicious turkey (my wife makes the best turkey in the world!), stuffing, sweet potatoes, hayman potatoes, green beans, collard greens, corn, cranberry sauce, gravy. The family's favorite is a regional favorite: the sweet potato biscuit. My wife usually makes six or seven dozen of them and they vanish in no time. It think my kids would rather eat them than cake or pie! Of course, there were pies and cakes as well.
Christmas music usually emerges officially in our home on Thanksgiving day. We have a pretty good collection of CDs by various artists, but my favorite is one that goes back to my childhood: the Perry Como Christmas Album. When I a little boy, my mother would let me listen to it when I went to sleep sometimes. It was a vinyl album, complete with the usual pops and clicks associated with analog media. We still have the album today on vinyl, as well as on CD. I was thrilled to discover, when my wife and I married, that she had the album and that it was a part of her childhood as well. The instant I hear the pops and clicks, it transports me right back to those memories. It has remained a part of our holiday traditions.
As we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, we took turns telling about something we were thankful for in the year gone by. This exercise focused our hearts on the spirit of the day and brought a special spirit to our observances. I don't think we're alone in this practice. I think many families have similar traditions and rituals (even if they don't have sweet potato biscuits!) Having a day set aside for the purpose of exercising gratitude is a wonderful thing.
The reason I wanted to write about it three weeks out from the festive day, is to propose a project to you. I have heard it said that it takes 21 days of repetition to form a new habit. Sometimes we do this unconsiously, but if we wish to engage in some personal self-improvement, we can consciously develop new patterns by practicing something for three weeks until it becomes a habit. Here's my proposal to help each of us instill a habit of being thankful.
Every day, for the next three weeks, during your commute to work, to the store, or any place else to where you might travel during the day, I propose that you express gratitude for anything you see that enters into your conscious mind. Much of our daily routines are so habitual, we may not even register the goings-on in the world around us until we arrive at work or at the store. The transport between home and those other places is just "downtime" for the most part.
Don't "filter" your gratitude. Be thankful for whatever it is. Driving to work this morning, I "registered" a feeling of gratitude for golden leaves and the green of freshly planted winter wheat. A beautiful red cardinal flew across the road in front of my car, a brilliant flash of vibrant color. I was thankful for old barns and tractors and the bright morning sun.
As I continued in this exercise, I became increasingly aware of little things that I might otherwise take for granted. I was thankful that my car started without a care and that I had nearly a full tank of gas. I was thankful for my humble home and its modest comforts. I was thankful I had a job to go to, because many are without employment right now. I was thankful for each member of my family, individually and specifically. I could go on and on.
At the end of a 20-minute commute, my heart was filled with gratitude and the entire world around me seemed full of blessings great and small. Although life still offers challenges and obstacles, they seemed manageable.
I've made this a frequent practice over the past two years--not every day--but often enough. I find that it elevates my spirits. It makes me feel close to God, from whom all these blessings come. It disperses dark feelings of frustration or gloom that may appear from time to time. It doesn't matter if I am thankful for the same things over and over again. I see the same barns, fields, along the way every time, but there is always something subtly beautiful in the seasonal changes, the time of the day, the weather, etc. I see the cardinal in the same area often enough to assume that it's probably the same bird. Nevertheless, when I see these things, I feel and express that thanks. Sometimes I say it out loud. Sometimes I take it into my heart and relish it.
Brigham Young once said something to the effect that a man who gets on his knees daily and thanks God with all of his heart for his blessings cannot fail to achieve the Celestial Kingdom. The act of being thankful pulls down power to obtain all other blessings we might need.
This exercise will make a difference in your life. Even if you see the same people on the bus or the subway every day, bless and praise them in your heart. Say thanks for the bus or the train. Feel grateful for the tracks, the street, the electricity, the driver, the ticket-taker, and anything else. Be grateful for the change in your pocket or the newspaper tucked up under your arm. Be grateful for the the cop, the fireman, the soldier, the sailor, who serve and protect us. Be thankful for another day of peace and plenty. If you live in a place where there is not peace or plenty, then be grateful you have lived to see another day wherein there is hope for those things. As long as you are drawing breath, there is hope. Be thankful for hope and you will see it grow in your heart.
Inevitably, you'll find that your mind becomes more conscious of other people and that you will feel a desire to be a blessing to them, to lift them up and be helpful. Maybe you'll pull over the car and help the lady stranded with the flat tire. Maybe you'll buy a sandwich and give it to the homeless man in the street. Maybe you'll hold the elevator for someone or drop a couple of bucks in the Salvation Army's kettle. Gratitude has a way of picking us up and inspiring us to serve others.
I propose that you do this exercise for the next 21 days. Then reflect and share with your family or friends on Thanksgiving day the experiences that came as a result of your efforts. I promise that, if you will, you will see greater light and joy come into your life, because you are taking note of joyful things. I promise that you will see the spirit of darkness or anxiety diminish, because you are no longer feeding it with your emotional energy. Your mind will be clearer, your heart more at peace. Your relationships will start to heal. People close to you will notice a change in you. Best of all, once you have done this for 21 days, it will start to become a habit. The long-term benefits of gratitude will become manifest in your life. You'll be less prone to depression. Your stress level will go down. There will be greater happiness in your life.
It's worth a try. I hope you'll join me in this project and share your comments about the experiences you'll surely have.
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