Saying What You Are Thankful For Reveals a Lot About You

Thanksgiving in the United States is always celebrated on the last Thursday in November. The date changes, but the day is always on Thursday unlike Christmas and some other holidays.

Some people travel far and near to eat dinner with their family. It is a tradition that people gather around the table and say what they are thankful for. It doesn't take long if there are a few people. However, it takes a long time if there is a large group. It takes even longer if people are long-winded instead of keeping their remarks to just a sentence or two.

Here are some of the things people say they are thankful for along with what it reveals about them.

The comment that tops the list is usually, "I am thankful for my family." The first person who speaks usually says that even though it is on other people's mind as well.

The person who says he is thankful for his family is the one who shows up for other gatherings such as last summer's family reunion, graduations, birthday parties, and weddings throughout the year.

This person who says he is thankful for his job might come from someone who has been unemployed most of the year. Now that he has a job, he just can't help expressing his thankfulness.

Not only is that person with a recent job thanking God, but he is also those persons around the table who knew about his unemployment and helped him out until he could get back on his feet.

The person who thanks God for a house isn't boasting. She is merely giving God the glory because during a brief period during the year, she had no place of her own to live.

Relatives were kind enough to take the single mother and her two small children in for a while. From last Thanksgiving until this one, the three of them lived with other relatives, in a shelter, and even in a car until God turned the situation around. Surely, she is thankful for having a place to live.

A woman in her late forties used the show and tell method to indicate what she was thankful for. She thought she would never get married because she had been engaged three times before and something happened to prevent the wedding from taking place each time. Fortunately, she tied the knot just a week ago. Therefore, her marriage was at the forefront of her mind and heart.

She brought along her new husband to meet her family for the first time. After saying she was thankful for her spouse, she added that if God's will be done, they would probably start a family soon and will show off the new addition next Thanksgiving.

The person who indicates she is thankful for a good doctor's report is one who has suffered many years from illnesses of all kinds. In fact, she said this is the first Thanksgiving in a long time that she was not in pain.

The remark about being thankful for good health came from one who knows that saying she is thankful for her health was not an appropriate statement because health could be either good or bad. Therefore, she was very emphatic and said, "I am thankful for good health."

When a person says he is thankful for a car, listeners might think the person is materialistic and cares more about things than about people. However, that was not the case with the person who said he what thankful for his own vehicle.

He missed last Thanksgiving dinner with his family because he didn't have a way to travel over the miles to get there. Throughout the year, he didn't have a reliable way to get around. He relied on others to take him places when it was absolutely necessary. For the first time in a long time, he has his own vehicle to get him to places he wants to go. For that, he says he is thankful.

The children and teenagers chimed in with comments about what they were thankful for. Most of them were glad they were on Thanksgiving break from school and had done well on their exams.

College students joined the family for the first time since they left at the end of the summer. After thanking God for safe travel home, one young man also thanked his parents for not flipping his bedroom into a sewing room for his mom or a man cave for his dad.

The comments above are the usual ones heard around the Thanksgiving table. However, there are other examples, but the sentiment remains the same.

People are thankful for what God had provided for them over the last year. Therefore, they will express their gratefulness for what God had already given them instead of requesting new things.

Real thanks come from the heart. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?