Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday season. From now until the end of December is what many refer to as, “The most wonderful time of the year!” I really love the holidays. Cozy fireplaces, scarves, and sweaters; twinkling lights and evergreen garland; hot beverages and sweet treats. It all brings back really good childhood memories, so the nostalgia is nice.

What I am not crazy about is all the greediness that goes along with holiday gift-giving. I feel like gifts should be meaningful and thoughtful. I can’t imagine being thankful for something knowing that someone had to plow down another person at Walmart at four in the morning to get it. I mean, I can understand parents buying toys for kids and wanting to get amazing deals, but resorting to violence, really?! I know that these are extreme cases that we see on TV, but it speaks to something greater about our society. Something that we probably shouldn’t be proud of.

Okay, that’s it for my little rant about all that craziness.

What do we have, 23 days until Christmas or something like that…? Yikes. Time goes by way too fast. I’m just getting around to thinking about what I am thankful for. My family, my friends, my boyfriend, my warm socks and scarves, my job, my home, and food. On Thanksgiving, when we were all talking about what we were thankful for before we ate, I couldn’t really narrow down my list or think of something succinct to say, so I said nothing. It kind of bothered me. Was this an indication that my heart really is dark and cold?! But I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now. I think what’s going on is that I am very fortunate and I have so much to be thankful for that I really just couldn’t narrow down the list. They say that gratitude goes a long way. I’ve never been able to practice putting my gratitude into words on a daily basis, but I think it’s something that could help me to be more positive in day-to-day life. Maybe if I think about it more, or even write it down, I will have more to say at Thanksgiving next year.

Also, if more people thought about what they already have and how thankful they are for that stuff, maybe they wouldn’t feel so compelled to go out and elbow drop others for flat screen TVs. Just a thought.

What are you thankful for this year? Post comments here, or to Facebook!