It’s not very far away, Thanksgiving. It will arrive in a couple of weeks. For many people, this is their favorite holiday, with all the turkey and trimmings. Football games on the TV and in the backyard. Pumpkin pie.
I love the day too. The name in itself should give us our biggest cue. Thanks giving. A day to give thanks. Except. There is one thing that irks me.
But first, the goodness.
Showing our gratitude in life is a tremendous thing, far powerful than most people imagine. By acknowledging the incredible, which is in and around us, and being amazed by its presence, we are growing.
It is scientifically proven too. This isn’t just me spitballing here. There has been much research and documentation on the benefits of gratitude.
From Psychology Today, seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude:
1. Gratitude improves physical health. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than other people.
2. Gratitude improves psychological health. It reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, from envy and resentment to frustration and regret.
3. Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression. Grateful people are more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, even when others behave less kindly.
4. Grateful people sleep better. Spend just 15 minutes jotting down a few grateful sentiments before bed, and you may sleep better and longer.
5. Gratitude improves self-esteem. Grateful people are able to appreciate other people’s accomplishments.
6. Gratitude increases mental strength. Recognizing all that you have to be thankful for —even during the worst times—fosters resilience.
7. Gratitude opens the door to more relationships. Acknowledging other people’s contributions can lead to new opportunities.
I could expand on the benefits of giving thanks. But mostly, whether we believe in a god or not, just putting the energy of thankfulness into the world feels beneficial.
So why does Thanksgiving bother me?
Quite frankly, it is those pesky Pilgrims. Oh, I know the story, believe you me. They were persecuted in their own country. They were searching for religious freedom. And on. So they ventured out and survived the harrowing journey westward, across the Atlantic, to the new land.
In fact, it was on this date, November 11, 1620, when the Mayflower Pilgrims made their first landing in the new world at Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.
But that’s just it. That land wasn’t new. In fact, it had been home to a LOT of people for nearly 20,000 years. It was a holy land with many sacred places. The Wampanoags established villages, roads, and fields of corn. They built monuments and cemeteries, and the like. Long before any white people showed up.
The Pilgrims were the first of the destructors. In just a couple of centuries, this entire culture of native people would be crushed. An excellent piece at the New York Times talks about the myth of that “first Thanksgiving.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/opinion/thanksgiving-history-racism.html
It resonates with what I have mentioned here, giving the true details about the Wampanoag people and their contact with the Europeans.
I’m all in for Thanksgiving. For giving thanks. But I think we need to drop the whole Pilgrim lore. There’s really nothing to celebrate as far as they are concerned. They were trespassing.
I guess I am supposed to take my own advice and even be grateful for those things I resent. Admittedly, if it weren’t for their encroachment, I would not be sitting in the United States of America, in my cozy office, typing these words right now.
And for that, I am truly giving thanks.
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“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies. But the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”
― Henry Ward Beecher
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“Express gratitude for the greatness of small things.”
― Richie Norton
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“To be thankful for one thing is infinitely more powerful than to be bitter about a hundred others.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
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The act of thankfulness. Minus you-know-who.
