Be grateful for your blessings

This Thursday is Thanksgiving.

Most of us learned in elementary school the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in November 1621.

The colonists and the Wampanoag people shared a harvest meal in gratitude for the native people helping the colonists survive in the new land. The colonists were thankful they were still alive and had some food.

Thanksgiving should be more than eating a large meal, visiting with the relatives and watching football.

Thanksgiving should be a time of giving thanks. That is the purpose for the holiday.

Especially in this divisive political year, it’s a time to remember all of the things we should be grateful for.

No matter what side of the political divide you are on, we all have things to be thankful for.

Perhaps through the practice of being thankful, we can discover we are all part of the human race and we share many more things to be thankful for than things that divide us.

Are you thankful for your health? Are you thankful for your loved ones? Are you thankful for a gorgeous sunset? For the beauty of nature? Are you thankful for your friends? For your pets?

Perhaps this week you could find something different each day to be thankful for and then express that gratitude to someone.

If you are thankful for your wife, tell her. If you are thankful for your friends, express to them how grateful you are they are your friends.

If you are thankful for your dog, tell a stranger at the dog park how much that dog means to you.

One of the keys to being satisfied and happy is to be content and thankful instead of grumbling.

So make this Thanksgiving and this year a time to be grateful for all that has been given to you.

Happy Thanksgiving.