Thanksgiving is the top-rated holiday for Americans.
Hands down Thanksgiving is the best day of the year for the American family.
Why?
Thanksgiving touches many of the things we love most
Thinks like; time off work, hanging out with family, watching endless football, and eating delicious food. These have to be in the top 5 greatest pleasures for Americans.
At our house, we value waking up together, sharing a late breakfast, tuning in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade, and heading off to the in-laws for a turkey meal with all the trimmings.
Americans eat over 50 million turkeys at Thanksgiving
The Harris Poll survey shows:
- 74% of the people surveyed say they want to have their Thanksgiving meal in a home, not in a restaurant.
- 14% of Americans admit to serving a store-bought pie and passing it off as homemade on Thanksgiving.
- 30% of Americans will include a dish from another culture, including things like kimchi, enchiladas or ceviche.
- 73% of people say having leftovers is the best part of hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
- 46% of people who purchased pies for Thanksgiving bought a pumpkin pie.
The Harris Poll survey also found that 77% of people love saving holiday meal leftovers. 18%. of Baby Boomers and 32% of Millennials say they do not store the leftovers. Every generation has Thanksgiving preferences.
But the greatest part of Thanksgiving is; It reminds us to give thanks to a God who gives us awesome things to thank Him for. As we reflect on the joy of Thanksgiving, we should practice “giving thanks” more often.
The Scriptures encourage us to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV).
Notice the scripture says to be grateful “in” all circumstances, not “for” all circumstances. That’s another level for sure.
Family Fun
If the weather is conducive, a family football game is on the agenda. We team off in in a large backyard and go all in. Tons of fun for sure. The younger athletes make the best plays, and the old men do most of the QB work. We follow the football game with dominoes. We should call it Family Feud.
The competition begins mild and intensifies as the game continues. The slurs and insults increase as the day turns to night. It’s just as entertaining to watch the domino game as it is to play.
Give thanks
The real purpose is to give thanks. Giving thanks is healthy to the soul.
Researchers asked participants to smile while thinking of something specific they’re grateful for. They found that this consistently stimulated mental activity associated with positive feelings and emotions.
Giving thanks is just good for you, all the way around
The true secret to being grateful is no secret at all.
You choose to be grateful.
Then you do it again and again and again.
As we practice “giving thanks” every day, maybe we call it “Thanks-Living” rather than Thanksgiving!
I think that’s a great idea.
Thank you for reading this post. You can find additional inspiring articles at https://medium.com/@tommcdaniels
This article was posted first at Medium.
