Have a happy family Thanksgiving
by Mira and Charles on November 24th, 2009It’s a day for thanks. It’s a day for giving. At least it should be. But too often Thanksgiving is a day marred – destroyed sometimes – by the stress of going overboard, the tension that goes with travel, and by family members acting badly. So sad. Especially when it’s so easy to have a happy Thanksgiving. The rules are few and simple.
- Stop trying to control each other. Leave everyone else alone. Let people do what they want.
- Be nice to each other. God, that sounds lame. But it is so true, and so powerful.
- Be helpful. And don’t guess. Ask how you can help.
- Make the day a good one for other people, not yourself. If we were all less selfish, we’d all have a much better time.
- Focus on what’s most important: celebrating family and giving thanks. All the ‘fixins’ in the world can’t fix a Thanksgiving where kindness, love, gratitude, and just enjoying each other come first.
For more help, check out these pieces.
First, here are ten tips for surviving Thanksgiving with a dysfunctional family. There’s a lot of good stuff here.
Then there’s this article from today’s NYTimes about, sigh, the way we bug each other about food and eating on T-day. Gets back to point number 1 above.
Finally, we give thanks for YOU. Thank you for your interest, your support, your trying to make life better, your care and concern for the people in your live. May this Thanksgiving be a joyous, rewarding, and blessed occasion for you, wherever you are, whatever you do.
