Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

It's that time of the year again: the holidays; and it is time for me to be the cynical bitch that I am :D I despise the ornaments and the gaudy decorations, and I despise even more the sales techniques that every retail store employs to lure shoppers into their store. I'm sick of the red, and I'm sick of the lights already - and it's not even December!!

I'm sure at one point in time, the thought of thanksgiving meant just that: to give thanks. But why is it that we need a commercialized, money-making holiday such as this to remind us to give thanks??

Screw that. We *should* be giving thanks every day of our lives. Some of us do... some of us make a conscious effort to carry an attitude of gratefulness, and we attribute it to the blessings we have in our lives, whatever they may be. For those who believe in God or a higher power, they attribute it to Him. But for the most part, some of us, myself included, will take advantage of the people and possessions that we have.

So why do the most of us fail to be truly grateful for the people and things we have in our lives? Why, in perhaps the most privileged nation in the world, do we fail to realize just how much we have?

We sometimes lead hectic lifestyles. Aside from work, commuting to and from work and other places, cooking dinner, tending to children (if you have any), and taking care of other responsibilities, we don't take time to just sit back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the good company of friends or family. We focus our energy on how the hell we're going to get by this month because we have so-and-so bill to pay, when we should just be thankful that we are alive and in good health. I'm not saying that we should just settle, accept the fact that we can't pay it off, and expect a miracle to happen. Instead, I'm saying not to focus on the negative on the situation; keep a positive attitude and find a way to make ends meet. Your optimism will do more for good for you than your negative attitude ever could.

After all: "What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind."

Perhaps one of the other reasons we aren't ever content with what we have is the simple fact that we've been suckered into the materialistic, superficial nature that is consumerism. We can, at times, be consumer whores.

*Gasp*! She said "whores"!

The stores realize this, and they prey on it. We want and want and want.

This reminds me of three signs that I see outside of the Emeryville shopping center in, you guessed it, Emeryville. As you're driving out of the main street that is adorned with Gap, Victoria's Secret, and countless other over-priced stores with items that were imported directly from Bangladesh and China sweatshops, you will come upon three propped up signs.

The first one says: "Happy" and has one shopping bag underneath it.
The second says: "Happier" and has three shopping bags underneath it.
The last says: "Happiest" and has about five shopping bags underneath it.

Moral of the story, kids? Consume and you shall be happy.

Reminds me of the signs Roddy "Rowdy" Piper saw when he put on those truth glasses:
"Obey"
"This is your god"; when the glasses are off, it is simply a dollar bill.

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This post might seem jumbled up as I jump from one point to the next. Had a good ole' cup of coffee before I typed this out, so I'm on a caffeine high.

Anyway, be grateful. Hug a family member or a friend today.
And have a Happy Thanksgiving :)