It is the happiest time of the year, and Thanksgiving marks the grand opening of the holiday season. Thanksgiving day is officially dedicated to expressing gratitude towards others and giving thanks to all the good and bad things in life. Apart from having a patriotic history, Thanksgiving also has spiritual roots that can be traced back to the Old Testament, making it a special event for Christians.
Thanksgiving offers an amazing chance to get together with friends and family and express gratitude for all of the abundance we enjoy throughout the year. This day everyone sits down to enjoy a delicious meal and break bread together. With many traditions like the Macy’s thanksgiving day parade, turkey pardon at the white house, and the annual gathering of family members, this day holds a special place in our hearts.
However, many people do not realize that this festival holds much more important value than we think. According to various studies, being thankful on Thanksgiving gives us mental peace and seems to have physical benefits.
So, let us find out the importance of a joyful day in our lives and how we can be thankful not just on Thanksgiving but make it an everyday thing!
History of thanksgiving
The first Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States is often traced back to 1621, when the Plymouth Colony settlers and the Wampanoag shared a feast to celebrate the season’s harvest.
The trial for Plymouth Colony settlers started in 1620 with the voyage of the storied Mayflower. It was a journey that went on for 65 days in which 102 men, women, and children crossed the Atlantic in a very tight space. Following a harsh winter in New England, the settlers celebrated their first Thanksgiving in 1621 after a yielding harvest.
Pilgrims celebrated their second Thanksgiving in 1623. It was held to mark the end of a long and painful drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and forced Governor Bradford to request a religious fast. Since then, days of fasting and celebrating Thanksgiving annually have become a norm in other New England settlements as well.
However, It was not until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving Day on the final Thursday of November while America was in the midst of the Civil War. from that day, Thanksgiving day became a federal holiday and has been celebrated ever since.
Why is Thanksgiving important?
As we all know by now, Thanksgiving is the day of expressing gratitude and showing our thankfulness for the good things in our life. Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and exuding positive energy into the universe.
This nature of Thanksgiving invites nothing but positivity for yourself and the people around you. This festival is the catalyst for many benefits and can allow you to enjoy psychological, physical, and even spiritual benefits.
It brings us closer to god
Because the spiritual past of Thanksgiving, it allows the people to reconnect with the divine power and acknowledge its spiritual presence. It is the most repeated expression of faith between man and God and is the primary communication unit with the divine.
Since the first Thanksgiving, we sit down with our loved ones and thank the Lord for the meal and all of the good things we encounter in our lives. It not only makes us humble and thankful but also enhances our spiritual connectivity with the universe.
It reminds us to be thankful
There is a saying that “the earth is enough to fill everyone’s need but not enough to fulfill one’s greed.” The statement is true, although harsh, that as we grow, we tend to desire more and more things and get stuck in a rat race. This always moving and demanding lifestyle makes us forget to be thankful for what we have in our lives.
Thanksgiving is the day that reminds us to be thankful for the things, the people we have in our lives. It reminds us that, although we always try to achieve more, we should always be grateful for the accomplishments we have made in the past.
It encourages us to give back to the community
You often see soup kitchens are jam-packed with volunteers at the time of Thanksgiving, but why is that? Well, Thanksgiving is about being humble and giving back to the community. Being a giver is crucial for an individual and for society to stay in balance. This day teaches us to give more than we take and always makes these selfless gestures of kindness.
Because of this, people at the time of Thanksgiving get more generous than ever and go out of their way to do selfless good deeds.
It puts your mind at ease
Gratitude and mindfulness are the two major catalysts of achieving mental peace and stability, and Thanksgiving is perfectly capable of promoting these features in people. It helps in reducing a multitude of negative emotions and converts them into positive ones. Thanksgiving is the day where you can kick back and relieve yourself with all the stress and enjoy the company of your loved ones.
It improves your physical well-being
It might not look like it, but Thanksgiving can improve your physical health. Many studies have shown that gratitude is a direct influencer of cholesterol and blood pressure levels. With reduced anxiety and stress, people are less prone to suffer from heart problems and other diseases. It is also seen that people who practice gratitude experience fewer body aches and chronic pains.
Make everyday, thanksgiving day!
We all got to know how crucial thanksgiving day is; it is a day full of positivity and grateful emotions. Thanksgiving has so many benefits that one might wonder, why not be like this every day?
Well, this is precisely what you should do to make yourself a more positive person. You can practice gratitude and mindfulness daily by adopting exercises like gratitude meditation and gratitude journaling. Daily gratitude practices can uplift your mental and physical health and be the key to a more happy and sustainable life.
