Today is November 27,2025—Thanksgiving Day.
Today in history:
2005: The world’s first successful face transplant takes place.
2001: Hubble detects the first planetary atmosphere ourside our solar system.
1989: The world’s first living liver transplant takes place.
1978: Harvey Milk and George Moscone are assassinated.
Birthdays today: film director Kathryn Bigelow, musician Jimi Hendrix, and martial artist Bruce Lee
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Today is Thanksgiving, and as you might expect, I feel myself obligated to comment on it, even though I’ve already shared thoughts on Thanksgiving earlier. I did so to get you thinking along those lines before the day actually arrived. Well, now it’s here, and I have a few short comments for you.
At 68 years of age, I can honestly say I’m still learning about life. I figure when you stop doing that, you’re already dead. I have, however, even with what I consider a slightly deficient amount of things learned, managed to pick up a few things. Among the more important things I’ve learned that bear on today is that gratitude is key—not just today, but every day.
It’s always seemed a bit more than passing strange to me that the day after being grateful for what we have, we fight through all the traffic, both vehicular and foot, to obtain more stuff.
You see, what I’ve learned over the years is that when you are grateful for what you have, you tend to realize more to be grateful for. It doesn’t sound like it makes sense on the surface, but if you focus on being grateful for what you have, once you are in that mindset—and only then—you will begin to understand the depths of that statement.
This is not about the value of suffering, or anything of the sort. This is about not complaining about what you don’t have and recognizing the things you are blessed with.
My dad told me once that I shouldn’t ever challenge “worse.” He said: “I don’t care if you’re in the middle of the ocean in a leaky rowboat, with no oars and sharks circling. The boat could be on fire.” The old axiom applies here: When you’re walking through Hell, the trick is to keep walking. Be grateful for the ability to do so.
All of us have been in situations that impactful. Every day of our lives contains at least one thing we could spend our time focusing on and bitching about. And yet, we have survived them. Being grateful for what you have means, among other things, having a positive outlook on surviving your current situation and recognizing that you have the power to build from wherever you are.
Around the table today, you may be forced to listen to Uncle Jerry’s story about what happened during his colonoscopy. Yeah, I know—gross, right? But no matter. Be thankful that he’s still around to cast a jaundiced eye at. You’ll survive. You may well wish he’d shut up, and one day, likely soon, you’ll get your wish—but you’ll find you miss him. Oh, and keep in mind you’ll be running into him again come Christmas anyway.
As I indicated in my extended Thanksgiving piece the other day, those are precious people around your table today. Look them in the eye and let them know they’re precious to you. Make sure they understand that. You’ll be amazed at how what you send out comes back.
I’m going to quit now. Here’s why: I don’t want to take any more time than needed to get this idea across to you. I’m not even going to wish you a blessed Thanksgiving, because you already have one.Your mission is to make sure to be grateful for it.
Go and do that. Celebrate it and help those special people celebrate it, too.
We’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll see you then.
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