By Christopher Gabriel, CGabriel.com

Every year in late November families and friends gather to eat, watch football, eat a little more and watch even more football.  It happens on a Thursday, usually early in the afternoon.  Sometimes there’s wine and other assorted alcoholic beverages to go with the food.  Other times it’s simply water and coffee.  Thanksgiving, seemingly more than any other holiday, has become the day to eat, drink and watch sports with lots of relatives and friends.

The “giving thanks” part of it seems to be an afterthought.

I recently asked a friend to explain Thanksgiving to me.  He thought I was nuts.  After a few basic questions that confirmed I wasn’t nuts (though nuttiness is relative), he proceeded to offer his views on the holiday.  I followed that up by asking several other friends as well.  Though all three of them are quite dissimilar in personality and profession, they all talked similarly about Thanksgiving being a time for eating, drinking and football.

At no time was there any mention of giving thanks.

But really, who has time for that these days?  The economy is in an awful state, we’re involved in wars on two fronts in the Middle East, healthcare needs to be revamped, the nation’s public school system could stand major improvements and let’s not forget our own personal list of things that affect us every day.  The lower back pain, the kids endlessly wanting this or that, the car in the shop, the bathroom sink that won’t drain and the nosey neighbor who seems a little too interested as she strolls slowly by the house.

Really, this whole business of giving thanks is fine but can’t it wait?  First things first, I’m busy.

Giving thanks for virtually anything seems foreign to more and more people every day.  Even the simplest of exchanges – a clerk in a store going the extra mile, doing something above and beyond what they are asked to do – is often met with indifference and inaudible mumbling. 

Giving thanks for the joys we have in our everyday lives should be as common as saying “good morning” but that’s hardly the case.

We have become a nation, individually and collectively, that feeds off of what we don’t have rather than appreciating what we do have.  Certainly there have been times I’ve been a card-carrying member of the I Don’t Have Club.  It’s not as prestigious as the Yale Club but dues are cheap because membership is growing.

The last time I was back in Philadelphia I stopped by my high school.  It was summer and with class out, I was able to roam the halls freely to reminisce a bit.  I went to the auditorium and stopped at the giant mural that hangs outside the entrance, a gift to the school from our class.  The artist, an acquaintance but not someone I ever knew that well, had died many years earlier.  That, I had known.  What I didn’t know was how many other old friends from school also had passed away.  People that never had the opportunities so many of us have been blessed to have.  Getting married, having children and enjoying gatherings like Thanksgiving where we can eat, drink, watch football . . . and give thanks.

Ours is a country burdened with problems.  And every major city or rural town feels the weight of those problems to one degree or another.  But we are also a country blessed with more than any other.  More of what?  More of everything, and the good overwhelmingly outweighs the bad.  Things can always be better but the point is to appreciate and acknowledge the good while never forgetting to give thanks.

This week, take a moment and think about what you’re thankful for.  It won’t take up much of your time and it’s a lot less complicated than making the perfect turkey.  But then – stay with me here – go the extra mile.  Actually give thanks to someone while telling them exactly why you appreciate them. 

It’s the ultimate in thinking outside the box.

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