Thank You Whoever You Are!

On January 31, 1957 - not very long ago - Parliament declared the following:

"A Day of General thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed...to be observed on the 2nd Monday of October."

Of course it is not a statutory holiday in all of Canada as the Maritimers opted out! Nevertheless, the idea of Thanksgiving, over time, has gathered ideas from the First Nations, from the Europeans, from some of the early explorers (Frobisher for example), the end of the Seven Year War in 1763 and so on.

No doubt the Americans who remained loyal to Britain introduced some of their traditions. They were  more focused on the Pilgrims, turkeys and early settlements. As Canadians we ultimately settled on the harvest.

But Thanksgiving always reminds me  that we take too much for granted.  The above declaration  suggests that we should be thankful to Almighty God! But as I turn grey, and put on a little weight, lines and wrinkles, is it enough to say "thanks" only once a year? Or even more important, to whom should be be thankful? Do we need to be thankful to any one?

Of Course - there are many people who deserve our thanks in life  - our parents, our teachers, our lovers, and the many friends and associates who have shepherded us along the way. As we grow older we can only thank some of them in absentia. We might even be tempted to feel guilty that we were not more  appreciative when we had the opportunity. But is it really necessary to be generally thankful to anyone in particular? Most of us recognize a single act of kindness, or at least we should!

Perhaps an alternative is to practice the famous "power of positive thinking" more often.I read somewhere that showing gratitude and developing a sense of thankfulness can even have health benefits. It can improve our psychological, emotional and physical well-being, make us happier and even sleep better!

The yearly message of Thanksgiving should be a reminder to practice putting aside our negatives thoughts and actions, and spending a lot more time just appreciating who we are and what we have. Thankfulness after all is just another positive great way of being in the world with others. At least that is the message I will take from Thanksgiving 2012.
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And that's Dick's View of the World this Week

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