For many, this time of year brings wonderful thoughts and feelings about gratitude for life’s bounteous blessings. Even at my age (I’m getting up there), it takes me back to countless childhood experiences that were filled with fun, gratitude, love, and connection.
I remember years of “the kids’ table” – usually a flimsy card table set up far enough away from the grown-ups’ table, yet just within reach for any necessary parental intervention. I remember “graduating” to the grown-ups’ table, which was likely based more on logistics than merit, but it felt like I was somehow making steps forward in life. I remember repeating that same pattern as my kids were born and growing, and basking in the mix of chaos and good fortune. I remember cramming way too many people around tables and into kitchens, and yet loving the sense of belonging. Of family.
As a boy, and all through most of adulthood, there was something almost magical about the annual “Turkey Bowl” which was less about bad, yet very fun flag football, and much more about tradition, camaraderie, and inclusion. Oh, and usually some kind of injury, and ALWAYS resulting in stiff, sore muscles for days afterwards. But it was worth it.
I am keenly aware, however, that for countless others, this time of year is not joyous, or fondly memorable at all. It stirs up a mixed bag of very different thoughts and feelings. Pain, neglect, abuse, hunger, loss, loneliness – these are just a few of the realities that so much of humanity experiences, or relives, this time of year, understandably making it nearly impossible to “give thanks.”
So on this Thanksgiving, above all, let’s give kindness.
Here are some of my favorite quotes about kindness – perhaps one will resonate with you!
“You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
– The 14th Dali Lama
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
– Steve Maraboli
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
– Leo Buscaglia
“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”
– Henry van Dyke
Happy Thanksgiving,
Dr. Clark Hammond
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