FOOD FOR THOUGHT ENRICHES THANKSGIVING

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“Gratitude is a very pleasant sensation, both for those who feel and to those who excite it. No one who confers a favor can say with truth that they want no thanks. They always do.” —Eliza Leslie

BENEFITS FOR GIVERS AND RECEIVERS

When the days become shorter, the trees barer, and the stores full of Christmas merchandise, we know that Thanksgiving is not far off. This holiday champions gratitude, but at Thanksgiving my first thoughts are usually about food.

This year, I wonder: what if our holiday food included food for thought?

Expressing thanks is pleasant. Giving thanks benefits its givers as well as its receivers, though we don’t usually think of it in this way. Giving thanks also nourishes our emotions and attitudes. Holidays like Thanksgiving encourage us to pause and notice things in different ways. The well-crafted words of writers may encourage this, too, and can serve as food for thought at Thanksgiving and throughout the year.

SENTIMENTS TO SAVOR AND SHARE

Some of the benefits that givers of thanks might enjoy include increased awareness, positivity, and creativity. Pairing these benefits with relevant and inspiring quotations offers an easy, fun way to foster contemplation and deepen understanding as the three examples below illustrate.

1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that giving thanks helps us notice highlights in our lives:

“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. It’s very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe to others.”

2. Giving thanks is a great way to cultivate our positive emotions according to G.K. Chesterton:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

3. Giving thanks encourages us to express heartfelt appreciation in creative ways as Piglet does in Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne:

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

THE SUFFICIENCY OF A SIMPLE THANK YOU

Contemplating the words of talented writers can expand our personal expressions of thanks, but simply saying thank you is powerful on its own. Or as Meister Eckhart writes, “If the only prayer you say in your entire life is ‘Thank You,’ that would suffice.”

Enriching Thanksgiving with food for thought is easy, low calorie, and gluten free. As food goes, this one would be hard to overdo. This Thanksgiving, let’s enrich our holiday with a variety of foods that are intended to be enjoyed with our physical bodies, minds, and emotions.

Joyce M. Young, MD, MPH
Managing Director, Advanced Wellness Systems
Lead Expert for the High Health Network

 Photo by Ivan Monstera on Pexels

Sincerely,

Your colleagues at Advanced Wellness Systems