Every Thanksgiving holiday also known as Turkey Day, I’m reminded of many things including how the holiday was started, what we are supposed to be celebrating vs. how the holiday is spent and what the holiday has become to so many different people. For many, the holiday is typically spent with family and friends, with the main focus being thankfulness and shared gratitude over a lunch or dinner table with the centerpiece being a turkey; we mustn’t forget about the Turkey!

The turkey is typically cooked a number of ways including baked, roasted, or fried and it is usually accompanied by so many other dishes including dressing and/or stuffing, macaroni and cheese, ham, greens, salads, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered or sweet rolls, cranberry sauce, an assortment of desserts including pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, pound cake, banana pudding, and peach cobbler. Needless to say, most people usually have leftovers, and we are talking leftovers for days….

What this all means is that somebody, usually, somebody’s mum is in the kitchen cooking, and baking and cooking and baking and when it is all said and done, somebody’s mum is super tired from cooking and may rest a little before the cleaning begins.

Albeit, people tend to eat leftover food for days because of the sheer amount of food that is typically prepared but still… it can be expected that some recovery time is needed as this holiday can be very taxing in so many ways for mums. Not only is a lot of time being spent in the kitchen cooking that amount of food, but also the unspoken part is having to entertain the people that will eat all that food.

Yep, like I said, it can be a lot!

The day after the Thanksgiving holiday, is typically when Black Friday sales happen, and people are encouraged to shop until they drop, buying and planning for the next upcoming holiday…CHRISTMAS, also known as the time for gift giving. In fact, some people put up their Christmas tree and holiday decorations on Thanksgiving Night!

It can all be and typically is a big blow to the body.

Needless to say, Rest is not a word often spoken not to mention Self-Care.  However, both are very important and both are needed in the days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, the day of and the days after, especially because another holiday that will be equally as demanding on the body and of time is on the arisen.

Still for many, the norms of Thanksgiving are just beginning to reset because we are better managing to live with COVID-19 and do the things previously done before the COVID-19 pandemic started even though the pandemic is still ongoing. Many people are vaccinated and are more comfortable socializing in person again. In fact, for many, this holiday season will be their first-time seeing family and physically spending time around them all the while still exercising some cautionary and safe practices.

But there’s definitely a lot to be thankful for and this part…the gratefulness part, and the time with family and/or friends is great.

In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic made me more aware of how much we as humans have a tendency to take for granted, including the most simple yet complicated part of it all…LIFE!

Life can be thought of a number of ways but in its simplest form, life can be looked at as the breath in our bodies and our ability to simply be able to inhale and exhale.  Being alive, and being able to breathe on your own without assistance from a breathing machine is in and of itself a lot to be thankful for, especially, with so many of our loved ones dead and transitioned out of this world. Being among the living is a lot to be grateful for and certainly enough of a reason to gather and celebrate.

So, this Thanksgiving holiday, I did just that. I celebrated being alive and expressed my gratitude for it. I acknowledged that not only was I alive and blessed with the gift of life, I was also blessed to have loved ones around to celebrate with.

And still, today, I’m alive, and writing this blog post. I woke up this morning as I have all the days of my life.  I went to bed the night before, not just hoping to wake up, but actually expecting to live another day and was/am very happy and grateful that my expectations were fulfilled.

However, through life experiences and being alive for as long as I have been alive, I know all too well that waking up, no matter how mundane and routine it may become is anything but an ordinary occurrence. IT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE!

So, yes, I definitely have a lot to be thankful for, was grateful on Thanksgiving day and I am very thankful still!

Until the next blog post, I’m wishing U rest, loads of self-care and recovery from your Thanksgiving holiday activities. I’m also wishing U even more of the same as you prepare for the next big holiday, in whatever way U celebrate, if at all.  Comment below to share your fondest memories of this holiday or seasons past. Remember to take care of yourself!