I don't know why it surprises people unless they have momentarily forgotten that it was celebrated by the Plymouth pilgrims and the natives who helped them survive their first winter in the New World in 1621. It became an official holiday in 1863, when, during the civil war, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
I have a special relationship with Thanksgiving despite not growing up here, because it was the day I arrived in the US. Of course I had no idea that was the case then but over the years as I celebrate my anniversary as an Irish American I like to give thanks for the experiences that my journey has given me.
I try not to dwell on all that I left behind because I left so much. Every decision we make has a positive and a negative. Every decision we make adds something to our lives. Whether we deem the decision good or bad we still gain.
I have gained very dear friends. I have gained amazing work experiences and financial rewards that allowed me to travel the world and see things I could not have imagined, from the top of Kilimanjaro to the depths of Death Valley and so much more. I have gained a life partner whom I deeply love. I have gained a spiritual philosophy that transformed my life and showed me my own power to choose what I think and how I act. I have gained more than I can say in this small piece of writing, I gained a life that is good and full and in which I can visit my home and family in Ireland regularly, and I am deeply grateful for that.
I have gained an official holiday to give thanks. I am grateful.
What are you thankful for this thanksgiving? Remember the words of Shakespeare,
... there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so.
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