Sometimes I feel as if Thanksgiving gets over looked as a holiday. As soon as it turns November, most people go from frolicking in the new fall leaves and carving pumpkins to blasting Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You and dreaming about the snow and hot chocolate. Personally, I am a huge fan of Thanksgiving and believe it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Not only is Thanksgiving one of the only days in the year you can completely eat everything in your sight guilt-free (bring on the cookies, apple pie, and fruit tarts), but also you are surrounded by your family and can really take a step back to realize how wonderful your life is. I only have two older sisters but my dad is one of nine children, which makes Thanksgiving incredibly hectic. Most of my family lives close by as well, which makes Thanksgiving that much more powerful. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have cousins that I am not huge fans of and my weird aunt who always asks me why I don’t have a boyfriend and what I’m going to do with a degree in International Relations. But honestly, that’s part of the beauty of Thanksgiving. You get to catch up with distant relatives or go outside and play a game of pick up football in your neighborhood. Thanksgiving makes us think about the little things and how truly lucky we are to spend time with the people we call our family.
For this article I polled the Colgate community as well as the greater community of my Facebook friends (which includes a diverse group of people, yes…I’m looking at you Mrs. Carusi, my 6th grade science teacher) to see what everyone else values in their lives. The results were amazing. The question asked on the survey was, “What are you most thankful for?” Multiple people explained that their family was the number one priority but others talked about the beauty of being able to get a college education here at Colgate and addressed how happy they felt knowing their friends had their backs. Responses even ranged from “life chats and caffeine” to “finally being truly happy.” I was extremely happy reading the results of this survey because I believed the answers to be genuine and heartfelt.
I specifically took on the task of writing this blog piece this week because I think people do not step back anymore. It seems as if our lives are constantly moving without any time to think, let alone sleep. But this piece allowed me to remove myself and think about what I was truly thankful for. So before you start blasting Santa Claus is Coming to Town and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas on repeat, I think everyone should embrace Thanksgiving. Indulge in the wonderful food, family and friends you are surrounded by and watch some football because sometimes you need to take a step back and think about the wonderful things you do have in your life! So, relax and decide…what are you most thankful for?