A more meaningful Thanksgiving

Want to make Thanksgiving more meaningful this year?
Here are a few tips:
•Watch less TV and spend more time with family.
•Listen instead of just talking.
•Spend at least part of the day with someone far from home, living alone, or under the weather.
•Make a list of things you like — sunrises, sunsets, old friends, new friends, favorite constellations in the night sky, pieces of music, favorite books — and reflect for a moment on the wonder of a world that offers all those experiences.
•Talk to a distant family member on the phone. E-mail doesn’t count. It’s too impersonal.
•Write a letter to someone who has made a difference in your life. Tell them about that.
•If someone brought something to the feast that you especially liked, ask for the recipe and their advice on how to cook it.
•Listen, really listen, to a favorite piece of music.
Then, if you can, listen to something you’ve never heard before. Jazz? Classical? Folk? It doesn’t matter as long as it’s new to you.
•Go for a walk with someone you love. (Be sure to bundle up.)
•Do something to sustain a family tradition.
If your family always plays Scrabble on Thanksgiving, then Scrabble it is.
•Visit with someone significantly older than you are and someone significantly younger. Bringing generations together is one of the best aspects of the holiday.
•Imagine for a moment that your life was entirely different, you were born to other parents in another country in another time in human history.
Then reflect upon the blessings of family, nation, and peace.
•Sing. In the shower, in the car, by yourself, or gathered around the piano with family.
It doesn’t matter. Just sing. (You sound terrific, by the way.)
•Laugh at yourself, particularly your follies and foibles. You may as well treasure them, they’re yours after all.
•Give thanks.
And one last suggestion: Skip the seconds at the dinner table. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]