November--A Month for Thanksgiving
November—A Month for Thanksgiving
When we were children, my father would go around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and ask each one of us what we were grateful for. By the time I was in high school, I’d wised up to this routine so I thought about it in the several days leading up to the big dinner. I wanted to have something worthwhile to report.
That habit of identifying sources of gratitude has continued into adulthood. Just ask my sons. But this year I noticed a nuance that wasn’t there before.
I mean, it’s very easy to come up with a fairly long list of sources of gratitude. After all, I live in a very beautiful place, have good friends, get to see my family fairly often (ok, not often enough) and have plenty of delicious berries to eat in late fall.
But this year there was something different. It started when I rescued two cyclamen plants from the nursery. I’ve always been attracted to them, but these are the first that I brought home. In the days since their arrival, they have started blossoming and showing off their rosy pink leaves which are set off by deeply green leaves. Show stoppers!
As I walk by them going about my day, I realize that I am aware of a sense of being happy. Their beauty makes me happy.
But it’s more than that. They actually make me smile. And I don’t mean the kind of smile that is more the idea of a smile than one that involves the movement of muscles around your mouth and eyes. It’s a smile that anyone looking at me would recognize as a sign of happiness.
This morning, mid-smile, I was struck by the thought that there aren’t that many objects that evoke that kind of reaction. When’s the last time you looked at something and couldn’t hold back a smile? You can’t count your children or grandchildren (or even the great grands). Of course, you can’t help but have that reaction to them when they are peacefully asleep or singing a little song or just rolling around enjoying life.
And I don’t think trophies count either. You know, those items that you were awarded for achievement of some kind. Your name is even etched on it. Sure, it makes you feel good and you may have worked hard for it. But a plant that you simply bought? Its beauty is what made me smile. I am happy to have the two of them in my living room. Yes, I bought two.
Ok, one other example. Sometimes as I am randomly going about my day I may walk into my living room at just the right moment to see an incredible sunset. Or sunrise. The point is, I have nothing to do with creating this experience and it makes me smile with happiness to be part of the same universe.
So here’s your Thanksgiving assignment. Pay attention to what makes your face crinkle into a smile just because. And let’s all be very thankful for those moments.