Thanksgiving in 2020 will be unique in its own way. After eight months of COVID-19 and ugly political rhetoric, we find ourselves celebrating a holiday where we are supposed to give thanks. As usual, if you go around the table, as is the tradition in many homes, saying what we are thankful for. We often give thanks for the same thing we said last year; family, food, health, or our home. Frustrations, even anger, have taken their toll this year, and although we still have those things to be thankful for, it doesn’t feel like enough.
I asked a few to tell me what were some of their favorite things, knowing full well these little things bring us so much peace, joy, and comfort. It’s these things we should be thankful for.
“Hot tea, dark chocolate,” and then she laughs, knowing full well she just said two things before she mentioned… “my husband. Puzzles keep me sharp. Keeps my mind active.”
“Spending time with my family when they aren’t being butt heads.” There were three people there, and we all laughed because we could identify!
“Music! Listening to music. I have music on every day. It’s not opera; it’s not rap. It’s music that moves me.” And then she realized it was the “Words to the song.” Still thinking, she said, “horses, gardening, and my grandchildren.” And as the last thought, she said, “Books!”
“Being outside,” and her co-worker said, “Sunshine.” Mind you, they both work inside all day.
Another said she loved, “Travelling, but I haven’t done much of that lately.” However, you could see she remembered her trips, and they sustain her.
“Going to movies.” Nothing is stopping her from going to the movies now, except, “They are only old movies.”
This couple likes fishing and quilting. They both laugh together because when they go camping at Fresno, she brings her sewing machine and a generator to quilt while he fishes.
“I like to take my boys to the parks, all the parks in town, and play.”
“I like to shop. I don’t like to online shop, but it’s going to have to do.”
“I like to go to CrossFit.”
“I work on vehicles and get them running!”
“Getting together with my girlfriends.”
“I like to watch movies on the couch,” and as a second thought, she says, “ I like to bake.”
“I like to visit with my grandkids.”
“Fish and have a beer.”
“I have too many! Whatever at that point of time that makes me relax and puts a smile on my face.” He starts remembering, “Skateboarding, cooking good food, and then eating it, playing music. Outdoor athletics. Good conversation with good friends. Raking the yard and planting grass.”
“I love to work; I can’t sit still. “
“Deer hunting, even though I haven’t killed one. I like looking for them.”
“Hot baths at the end of the day!”
“Being outside close to God, feeling his connection.”
Finding thankfulness and contentment in little things has been confirmed for ages. I have been a collector of sayings, and here are a few you can read around your Thanksgiving table this year.
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” - Camille Pissarro.
“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in the little things.” - Charles Simmons.
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” - Marian Wright Edelman.
“Most people seem to want tremendous improvement instantly. But you’ll probably find it’s the little things you do that eventually add up to big results.” - Joel Weldon.
“Most of the critical things in life, which become the starting points of human destiny, are little things.” - R. Smith.
