November is here, meaning Thanksgiving isn’t far away. As we all learned in elementary school, the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of a good harvest by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Over time, this celebration went from a celebration prompted by church leaders to becoming a national holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November in the United States.
While the holiday itself has changed over time, its central meaning has not: to be thankful for what we have. But what does it mean to be truly thankful? In the dictionary, the word “thankful” has three meanings:
- To be conscious of a benefit received (“For what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.”)
- Expressive of thanks (“Thankful service”)
- Well pleased or glad (“I was thankful it didn’t rain”)
For our purposes, let’s focus on the first meaning, “to be conscious of a benefit received.”
As good Iowans, we all know that fall is harvest time across the state. In this way, we’re not so different from the Pilgrims, who, after coming here to start a new life, were also finishing up a harvest in the fall. And just like the Pilgrims, when we are finally finished with the harvest, we can step back and be thankful for the harvest that helps support our families and communities.
But we have much more to be thankful for than the fall harvest. There are many blessings in our everyday life that we may forget about or take for granted:
- The blessing of waking up in the morning and being able to pursue our own goals and dreams.
- The blessing of having family and friends nearby or far away that we can celebrate with, as well as turn to in difficult times.
- The blessing of living in the state of Iowa and taking advantage of everything it has to offer.
- The blessing of being able to help others through business, or donating our time, money or other resources to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
There’s no doubt that life isn’t perfect. But it is as good as we make it, and that starts with being thankful for what we have. We’re going to leave you with a quote we love that embodies the spirit of this time of year: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”
We hope everyone finds a way to be thankful for the many blessing we have. Happy Thanksgiving, and we hope to see you soon!
-Northeast Security Bank
Tags: give thanks, thanksgiving