Just a little Thanksgiving weekend thought

I was reading a company blog from a new website shown to me to help you manage your financial life, and I was happily surprized to find that they question other parts of life as well.

While we all know that Thanksgiving was a feast celebrated by pilgrims and Native Americans, have you ever stopped and wondered why we’ve come to celebrate it by gorging ourselves with a 3000 calorie meal, which is often followed by a marathon $3,000 shopping spree the next day?
Somewhere in the not-to-distant annals of history, Thanksgiving has veered horribly off course. The Pilgrims and Indians started the tradition as a way to give thanks for the the fact that they weren’t going to starve to death that winter. Yay! We’re not doing to die! Yet it’s gone from being about giving thanks for what you have to being about wanting more.
From the moment you turn on your TV to watch the Thanksgiving day parade you’re bombarded with messages of consumption, It runs the gamut from a pretty lady on TV telling you that you need a 498 piece Craftsman tool set (because your 348 piece one just doesn’t cut it anymore), or your Aunt Margie trying to get you to finish the last of the cornbread stuffing, even though you feel like you’re about to pop.
So how do we get back to giving more thanks and wanting less things?
On this auspicious day in the middle of one of the worst recessions in recent memory, think about all the people and things you’re thankful for and let them know. Instead of worrying about where to seat crazy uncle Lou, be thankful that you have a family at the table.
Instead of stressing about the parking situation at the mall on Friday, be thankful that you have the money to spend and a car to get you there in the first place. And if you’re not able to go to the mall or give gifts this year, give a gift of thanks. A simple card with all the reasons you’re thankful for them is probably the best gift anyone can get (if you can’t think of any reasons, maybe they shouldn’t be getting a gift in the first place).
Oh… and if you must join the fray on Black Friday, be thankful that you’re not working the registers and give those unfortunate souls manning the registers a heartfelt “thanks” for throwing themselves into a war zone so that you could get your holiday shopping done.