Being Thankful More Than One Day a Year
Students, along with millions of other people, posted countless Instagram photographs, tweets, and Facebook statuses listing what they are thankful for last Thursday. Thanksgiving is a day to feel grateful for what you have.
Everyone advertises how much they have to be thankful for and yet, the next day, they race to get more. Black Friday marks the day in which stores offer extreme discounts on many of their products, and people wake up in the middle of the night — sometimes not even going to bed at all — in order to buy these discounted items before anyone else.
The idea of Thanksgiving is sweet. It is a holiday that favors no religion, bringing our whole country together as we give thanks. I love Thanksgiving as much as the next person. I love spending time with my family and I love all of the food, but we should be thankful for what we have every single day, not on just one increasingly commercialized holiday.
What is the point of being thankful for one day of the year when on every other day, you disregard or complain about all of the luxuries you have? I understand that it isn’t possible to always be thankful for everything, and I also understand that everyone endures hardship at some points in life. But when you are thankful for just one day out of 365, it has no effect.
I’m not calling people out or scolding anyone, seeing as I am guilty of this, too. Although I may not vocalize it every day, I am thankful for all that I have. Yes, sometimes I take advantage of the fact that I have a supportive family and the fact that we can put food on the table, but I am grateful for these things. Between now and Thanksgiving 2014, I plan on expressing my thanks for everything I have more than once a year, and I hope I am not the only one.
