Thanksgiving to New Year!

I have lived in United States for close to 25 years and Thanksgiving has been a tradition I came to know after coming here. Infact Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween were all alien to me till I came here. I had some sense of Valentine’s Day but not at the scale as it is popular across the globe today.

Thanksgiving has over time become more significant to me because of it’s timing. One month before new year is a very important time for me personally.

I have to confess that while I go to some friend’s home and celebrate Thanksgiving, I am not a big fan of the Thanksgiving dinner. That is just my tastebuds and nothing to do with the preparations or recipes. It is not the food but the connections that you look forward to.

That said it is also a time to remind ourselves of our privileges in this world. I can afford to say ‘I am not a big fan of the food’ and that is my privilege while there are still people who look forward to Thanksgiving as a time of the year when there is enough for everyone.

We often forget our privileges and crib about every small thing that irritates us. I don’t know about you, but I think I complain more than what I should and I feel ashamed at myself for it.

The Thanksgiving timing cannot be better than this to reflect on things. For me this has been a time to rewind and look at the year that is ending and do some forward looking into the next year.

For those who take new year resolutions this could be a great time as well. Start the resolution now instead of waiting for Dec-31 because no magic is going to happen on new year’s eve that will transform us and make us better human beings equipped for a successful new year.

Everything begins here and now!

The good thing of starting the resolution now is we can have a reality check before the year starts and readjust them to more realistic terms. You get one month to run through it and know what will work.

The next benefit is we can get started on writing a year end journal where daily for next 30 days you can reflect on one thing from this year that has impacted you, made you think different or something you learned or unlearned or a habit you got rid of or cultivated new. Even things that did not go well but leaves a mark on you.

Things that were significant to you this year that can help shed light on the unknowns next year.

We could do this for both personal and professional lives which is what I am planning to do as both theae areas are equally important for me next year. I won’t be posting them here as these are personal exercises 🥰

What changed this year…. And what will we change to make a difference next year….

Thank You !
Vinod!