All too often we get wrapped up in the holiday frenzy with consumerism and presents, getting food prepped, cleaning the house, decorating and so on...Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings, to show gratitude for all that you've been given in this life. Gratitude is actually one of the best ways to connect with the divine but all too often we take simple things for granted. What are you grateful for? Even if times are dark and rough there is always something to be appreciative of. And don't ever ask "what else could go wrong?"...because you will find out! Enjoy this day with your families and loved ones!
Look around your dining table today at all your loved one's faces. What would life be like without them? Appreciate every moment you have with someone because you never know when those moments will come to an end.
And if you feel like helping others you can donate $1 to some of the original Americans who could really use heat, food, and shelter. Without the Natives the settlers would have never survived. They took in the settlers, taught and guided them, and in return the whites wiped out 98% of their population. (Granted, brutality ensued on both sides.) Even into the 1990's there was forced sterilization in our country you will never hear about. Only 5 out of the 300+ federally recognized tribes (excluding the unrecognized tribes) are "wealthy" from the casino industry. Many of the other nations struggle with extreme poverty (Pine Ridge Res. is the poorest county in the U.S.), now gang violence, cardboard housing, no potable water or heat, etc. The worst part is that our government often prevents the nations from developing economically...I could write a whole novel on this topic after studying this at MSU, but please educate yourself on contemporary Native American issues and please donate: https://www.naha-inc.org/
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