It’s Thanksgiving… And Eric Renderking Fisk chews on what to be Thankful for, and what not to do this holiday season.
November 23rd, 2004
"Thankful For What?"
Inventory and Perspective
I don’t’ want to be accused of writing some flowery type of rant which
ends with a line from a Charles Dickens novel, like Tinny Tim’s “God
Bless us… everyone”. I don’t want to write something here that’s
hopelessly optimist and will shamelessly tugs at the heart strings just
for the sake of the holiday. But, it’s before Thanksgiving and I’m
compelled to write something on the subject of being grateful for what
we have.
We live in a world now that for those who are “with in the sound of my
voice” have it pretty good. We take leisurely things such as sports and
entertainment seriously as if they are matters of life and death, we
have the ability to take advantage of the resources that are available
and follow our own path. We’re allowed the luxury to lay in bed each
night and delude ourselves in believing in a world “just so”, or
convince ourselves that our lives will be better if we had just one
more thing… then we can be content and take on the larger issues that
we face.
We are truly blessed for having the opportunity to live these lives and
to be given the opportunity to help others. As The Holiday Season kicks
off, take this time to look past yourself and see the needs of those
around you. Start with your family…
Trust me… I’m a professional. Don’t Try This At Home.
Many of us will be taking a trip to see family this Thanksgiving, or in
turn scramble around the house getting ready for guests. Many of us
will be dreading this day, worrying about some melodrama that might
occur; either by old wounds resurfacing or by breaking news to the
family.
Trust me when I say this, you’re better off not confronting your family
about any thing that’s happened in the past, political issues, or some
new revelation about your life that’s going to disturb everyone. Don’t
ruin your family’s holiday with an incident, you don’t want them to
look back on the Thanksgiving of 2004 as the holiday when you had to
draw attention to yourself by making everyone “deal” with your issue.
Someday you’ll be sitting at a traffic light, in the theater, in line
at the Super Market… and you’ll be suddenly struck with a sense of
guilt unimaginable as you remember what you’ve done. That is, if you
resemble any kind of decent human being and have a consciousness,
you’ll realize that what seemed to be a good idea at the time was in
bad taste.
Also, word from someone who’s been down that road (worshiping at the
altar of the procaine god, offering a sacrifice of half-digested food
and partially absorbed alcohol), don’t drink too much. No matter how
good the first scotch tastes, and the second… the third is NEVER as
good. And the results might kill you, and if it doesn’t… the smell of
vomit on your breath, the nasty hang over and the embarrassment will.
I’m an expert on all of this, take it from someone who’s been there.
This is a holiday to really seize the day. While avoiding some
platitudes that might better belong on a Hallmark card (or better yet,
suffer the fate of the “Delete” key…) there may never come a time like
this again to be with the people you’re with. Chances are that
circumstances will prevent some of you form being together next year.
Worse yet, some of the people you’ll be with might not make it through
another 365 days, or see the rest of this Holiday Season. Make the
absolute best of what this holiday has to offer.
Take this time to be thankful for what you have and the people in your life. If you can’t do that, stay home.
Gratitude Is An Attitude: A salute To Our Service Men and Women, our Veterans, And Those Who have Given Their Lives...
Jumping tracks and I’ll cut this short with these words. There are
those who are reading this who are spending this time overseas, doing
their part to serve this country. On behalf of the Staff of The Fedora
Chronicles, we thank you. Words aren’t enough to express our gratitude
and our hope that you return safe.
If it wasn’t for our Service Men and Women, I highly doubt we would be able to do most of the things we do.
