My Thanksgiving Trifecta

I can hardly believe that the holiday season is nearly upon us and Thanksgiving is just around the proverbial corner. I hope you all have plans to spend some quality time with your loved ones over this holiday. For me, that’s one of the most important aspects of Thanksgiving. It’s traditionally a time when families gather together, enjoy each other’s company and share a traditional meal with those you love the most.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to spend time with loved ones and family, I hope you truly enjoy and cherish this joyful occasion. Many people simply take this festive time of gathering for granted because they tend to repeat this wonderful annual act of coming together year after year without interruption. For others, however, I know this day will be a bit more difficult if not downright painful.

For example, it will be difficult for those of you who have lost a loved one and will have to deal with that empty seat at the table this year. Having been there myself, I know how heart wrenching this situation can be. It will also be hard for those who are in the military or those who have a loved one in the armed forces who is away from home on this holiday, in service of this great country. It will be difficult as well for those who are estranged from a loved one due to misunderstanding, pride or pure stubbornness. If you happen to fall into this last category, I encourage you to be the healing agent this year and consider reaching out and using this occasion to close the distance and make amends before the opportunity no longer exists.

Even though Thanksgiving is one word, I suggest you can bring a deeper meaning to this occasion if you break it apart and think of it as two words…Thanks Giving! Instead of viewing it as a proper noun, this year I suggest that you view it and embrace it as a two word action verb. In other words, instead of simply enjoying a festive time with friends and family, make it a time to truly give thanks for the many blessings you have in your life.

As an example, there are many things that I’m thankful for. So, in the spirit of giving thanks, I’ve chosen three to highlight here that I consider the trifecta of things that I appreciate most. In case you don’t know, trifecta is word used in horse racing that refers to successfully picking the top three finishers. Well, even though I’m not a betting man, this term seems to fit my mission here very well today. So, with that said, what follows are the top three picks on my gratefulness list this year. I think I’ll call this my Thanksgiving Trifecta:

• Health:

Having watched people very dear to me struggle with illness and disease in recent years, I have learned firsthand to greatly value and appreciate my health. When all is said and done, there is really nothing more precious in this life than your health. I hope that my simply mentioning it will motivate some of you to take your health more seriously and invest in your physical body and emotional well-being more responsibly.

• Love:

This one is truly a two-way street as I see it. I’m thankful that I have people in my life that I deeply love and that there are people in my life who deeply love me back. When you have love coming and going in both of these directions, you have created a wonderful balancing act that enriches your life as well as the lives of those you love. To love and be loved is one of our most basic psychological needs and provides a powerful wellness inoculation that both heals and nourishes.

• Work:

I am also very grateful for the work I do that occupies a good portion of my time and allows me the pleasure of helping others. I tend to live by a guiding principle from the late motivational speaker Zig Zigler whose message was – The best way to get what you want out of life is to help others get what they want. Not only is work necessary to create revenue in order to enjoy life and pay the bills but more importantly it gives you a reason to get up each day, provides meaning to your life and greatly contributes to your sense of value and well-being.

So today I simply hope that I succeeded in helping you to think about Thanksgiving in a slightly different way this year. I hope that I have encouraged you to embrace this holiday in a more personal and much deeper way than usual by sharing with you a few of the things that I am most grateful for. With that said, I wish you all the best that life has to offer and hope you all have a wonderful and joyous Thanksgiving Day!