Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and everyone is already bustling around buying groceries for a Thanksgiving feast, getting the house ready for visitors, and generally feeling festive and a bit harried.

The frenzy of preparation and the noise of having folks come together can be overwhelming sometimes and lead to holiday stress.  There are lots of articles out there on managing holiday stress, like these  Tips to Fend Off Holiday Stress from the Mayo Clinic or these  Seven Ways to Cope with Holiday Stress from the American Psychiatric Association. They have great ideas–check them out!

Strategies for Gratitude

I read half a dozen of them, and noticed they all have two things in common—being OK saying “No” and taking a break. So this year I’m going to say “No” some, and not feel like I have to do everything everyone asks of me.  And each day I’m going to go into a quiet room (sometimes the only one in the house is the bathroom) for five minutes, take some deep breaths, and think about how grateful I am for:

• The food at my table
• The people who prepared this food
• The people who grew the food
• The people around the table with me
• The people no longer around the table, whose memories are in my heart
• The communities and people who sustain me all year long.

I invite you to do the same.  What are some things you are thankful for? Take five minutes, breathe, and let the thankfulness soak in.

One last thing I’m thankful for this year is each of you who are reading this and who care about the people who make our feasts possible—our farmers who deserve to be thriving on their farms. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!