“Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.” – W.J. Cameron
In many ways, Thanksgiving is the greatest of holidays, a reminder of the debt of gratitude we owe to everyone and everything around us. It is always tempting to magnify our losses and minimize the ordinary, daily miracle. We long for big, outrageous fortunes and forget the small, mundane but truly astonishing gifts. One day of the year, however, is a reminder to contemplate the undeniably interdependent nature of our existence.
Everything is connected. Not one of us is truly “self-made.” We don’t have to look far to find people and institutions deserving of our thanks. Every success we enjoy, every small achievement, is the result of an interplay of grace and circumstance.
Our connection to all otherness is why gratitude is accompanied by humility instead of pride. It’s a hint that the illusion of the separate nature of our existence is indeed an illusion.
“Thanksgiving” describes an act, not a contemplative state of mind. So perhaps this Thanksgiving would be a good day to engage in actively handing out a few compliments, showing some appreciation, engaging in some thanks. A few of the likely candidates for receiving your attentions would be the clients who loyally follow you, the service providers of all types who support you and the family and friends who believe in you even when you don’t.
Let me start. Many thanks to everyone who has supported TRO from the day we launched. Thanks to the travel professionals who read us and the suppliers who reach out to the community through us. Thanks to the other media in the industry for keeping us sharp and focused and to the employees, writers and contributors who shape our personality and persona. Each of you make us who we are as a company and we owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude.
Gratitude has the wonderful quality of out-shining less positive feelings. Any good thing we experience is the direct result of the graces of countless people from the beginning of time forward. Actively expressing a bit of thanks to just a few of those responsible for who we are is a small gesture, but one both necessary and welcome.