Thanksgiving thoughts
Let’s start our Thanksgiving early. If you are game, send me everything you are thankful for this year and we’ll share some of the best contributions in this space Thursday. Send them to jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.
This is the week we will all be thankful.
It's mandated by a federal holiday and grandmothers everywhere.
And that's OK. It's also not enough.
This year I am starting Thanksgiving week, starting today. Here's the goal I have in mind. Turn Thanksgiving into Turkey Day, but this week into Thanksgiving Week.
A day we give personal thanks. A day for professional thanks. A day for social, charitable and random thanks.
Then we expand that into welcome to November, a month of Thanksgiving.
How many of us think society is too bitter, too jaded and too quick to look for an argument?
You know who is not bitter, jaded or eager to argue? A thankful person.
"When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others," the quote goes.
No, it was not Bill Maher or Tucker Carlson. It was some dude named the Dalai Lama.
Need more practical advice? Here's Willie Nelson, who has been almost as much trouble as Baby Face Nelson in his life and written almost as much poetry as Willie Shakespeare: "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."
Amen, and pass the gravy.
So if we're going to start the weeklong (and then some) expansion of being thankful, I am happy to go first.
Personal thanks: I know losing your father is never a happy moment, but I will forever be grateful for having the chance to spend the last weeks and months with him - and fulfilling his last wish of spending his final days at home - forever. And thanks for the lessons, Pop.
Professional thanks: I am blessed by the leadership from bosses Chris Vass, Alison Gerber and Jeff DeLoach, but to be frank, my exchanges with readers make me grateful that I have a job that allows me to share, agree and disagree with so many of you.
Social thanks: As we always see the worst and focus on the conflict, I am inspired by those who reach for better, regardless of origin. Being true to the truth gives all of us a reason for hope. And where there is hope, there is reason to be thankful.
Charitable thanks: A giving heart is a happy heart. My mother told me that, and I try to live like that. If you are generous, be thankful. If you are thankful, be generous.
Random thanks: Not to be contrite or cliche, but with more and more losses in my family - my father and two uncles died within two weeks of August - the moments with family are something I will never take for granted again.
"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls." Aesop said that, and it is assuredly not a fable. It's the reason we need to embrace Thanksgiving week, Thanksgiving month and eventually thankful living all the time.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343.