Last night I called Thanksgiving a “success” after all was said and done. It took some humility and love to say it honestly. In my last post, I mentioned that I got it into my head to gather my siblings at Mom’s house in north Idaho for the first time ever. There were hiccups, but most of us made it. Ahh, can’t we always praise life for its opportunities for us to learn the lessons we need to learn?
1. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, and every time I lost sight of that during the past week was a time when I became disillusioned, fatigued, angry, or sad. NEXT TIME I participate in gift-giving, I hope to retain the perspective that in every scene from my holiday and those leading up to it, was a scene full of things for which I am truly thankful.
2. Next time I will remain focused on the goal, which was the gift, and not my part in it.
3. My stress is contagious, and next time I will tap the joy I feel, and save the agitation for later, when the family is gone. Thinking back, I wonder if they suffered from my mood. I should have at least showed them more of my joy. That would have been an additional gift, to make them feel good about what they had done. Then they could at least have said, “It was worth it! Did you see how excited she was?”
4. I love my family; each and every one of them. I need to remind myself and I need to tell them so. I did say “thank you,” and I could have said “I love you” more often. It was such a delight to meet my nephew finally. It was great to sit at the table and share “remember when” stories with my brothers, for the benefit of our significant others.
5. Though I have indeed suffered challenges, I do not know what’s it’s like to be in someone else’s family. I don’t have the right to judge someone’s complaint.
6. Next time, my gift won’t involve travel in winter! ha ha ha!
Mom is happy. She knows she is loved. She got to preside over Thanksgiving dinner with her grown kids for the first time. All the kids and grandkids survived the horrible driving conditions. It was a success!
Conscious Engagement 