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2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 9:34 PM

Celebrate, express gratitude for the gifts in your life

Show thanks

Most holidays center around giving gifts and greeting cards, except for one. Thanksgiving tends to center around family togetherness and thankfulness. Despite a soft economy, we all have much to be thankful for.

Whether it is a job, home, car, health, food, family, friends, faith or something else, we all have something to be thankful for and people in our life deserving of gratitude and appreciation. Tangible things are easy to spot, but what about also being grateful for others gifts of time, education, character-building behavior and other personal advice that help us achieve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Those matter, too.

Hallmark Cards, which leads the way in advocating we all give personal greetings to others, has a new commercial that says it all. In it, a young woman carries around a card waiting for a break in her mother’s busy holiday activities tending to others to express thanks and appreciation for all her mother has done for her. Few mothers would turn down a gift from their child, but most, likely, rather would have the gift of appreciation from their children.

That’s something we all can give.

A sick person can express gratitude for those who care for and visit him or her. A person without a job can express gratitude for the unexpected and probably temporary amount of free time he or she now has to spend with family and other fun pursuits. Those without faith can be thankful they have lots of choices for churches to attend to worship and reconnect with their creator. Those without nearby family can be thankful for friends who help fill the void of family.

An attitude of thankfulness, however, isn’t limited to adults. Children can and should have it too.

Last week a local boy whose family had faced its own job loss and tough financial times elected to have a birthday party that asked for gifts of food for others rather than gifts for himself. That kind of selflessness is gratifying to see, especially when so many others are helped by the food donations birthday party attendees willingly brought.

As we prepare for the holiday season, we all should ponder who and what we are most grateful for and thank those responsible for making those tangible and intangible gifts a reality.

— Jeanny Sharp,

editor and publisher