It's Still a Day for Giving Thanks

In our amazingly material culture there is more interest in today than in yesterday. Bl*ck Fr*d*y is the big news, not a simple day of thanks. (Got your attention?) I am not meaning to say that the whole idea of a shopping explosion day is obscene and needs to be edited- but I am implying it. We are out of hand. It's not the merchants- Big Box or local. It is us.

Me, too. I scanned and skimmed the ads for today looking for a deal that I might want. I toyed with a computer here or an e-reader there. yes, I already have a computer or two and we have his and hers e-readers already. But i was being lured by the possibilities. but i didn't want to get up that early today (or go to bed that late this morning.)

So I am not entirely this Scrooge who wants American stores to lose money. But somehow, somewhere in the great scheme of things this frenzy of shopping is not healthy. Not for any of us. It predicates a good healthy economy on out-of-control buying. Or perhaps buying controlled by the ones who are doing the selling. They are frantic for our business. They lure us, entice us, woo us, and seduce us.

In order to truly live in the kind of happiness I have come to discover over the past couple decades, I can't get so swept up in today's madness. I have to hold on to yesterday's serenity. No, not a wistful looking at a non-existent nostalgic past. I mean simply yesterday. November 24, 2011. A day we gave thanks.

I can't- I must not forget that today. I have no reason to add unwanted stuff to my already overcrowded life. I need to add more gratitude for what I already have- material and spiritual. I need to stop today and be grateful for each day. It is quite a life I have been able to enjoy in this past year. I have hopes for a lot more great things to be thankful for.

But right now, today, all I have is today. I'm glad I didn't get up and participate in the madness. I didn't need it. If you did, I am not one to judge. Simply take time tonight to give thanks that you were able to do so. Spend some time with all the ways that you can know a peace and serenity today. With or without the goodies on sale.

With a different thought, here is another possible use of all our money:
(HT to Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin)

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