Give Thanks Challenge

Thanksgiving week is one of the few weeks we have in this year that reminds us all to be thankful for what we have. It is the one week where everyone, big or little, hears over and over again to give thanks for what you have. Give thanks to whom I wonder? Yourself?

To get to the bottom of this answer I went to my crack team of Ripplers in making, Josh and Zach. I asked them both what giving thanks meant to them as both a five and almost ten year old.

Josh: "Well Daddy it means you tell Santa with your thoughts how much you thank them for the stuff in your life. Then hopefully Santa smiles and thinks of that when he is making toys for you. "

Zach: "Ahhh Dad do I have to play? Well alright....giving thanks means you should be thankful for all the good things you have in your life. Like I am thankful we have a good house, you like to toss the football and Mom is a good cook and stuff like that."

Even after such enlightening lessons from tomorrow's future, I still wasn't convinced. So I plunged headlong into asking more people, friends and colleagues I was certain would have more enlightening answers for me. What I got were the typical answers you would expect like give thanks for your health, for your job, for your family, for money in the bank, etc.. One thing I found interest however was that all the thanks seemed to be appreciated internally - not externally.

Case and point, my friend who said he was thankful for his job, had no plans what-so-ever to tell his boss thank you during this Thanksgiving season. My colleague thought me lame when I asked if she planned to make some grand gesture while the turkey is being cut to thank her family for being there for her this past year. Still my other friend who happens to be a well to do business owner had no plans to thank his clients for their patronage and in turn the reason why he has a lot of money in the bank.

So I had to ask, in what way were they really giving thanks? Almost every one of them said they would think about how thankful they needed to be on Thanksgiving, after all that's what that day is for right? As if their silent prayers of thanks would somehow magically transfer their appreciative thoughts to those whom they were most thankful.

Giving thanks has to be real. It can't be a personal inventory of things and people you go over in your mind right before you take take that first bite of delicious turkey. Giving thanks requires action. It requires effort. It requires real communication of your heartfelt feelings and emotions to the people that mean the most to you in life.

So here's your chance. Don't just think about why you are thankful this Thanksgiving season, share why you are thankful with those who most need to hear your thanks. Whether it be a card, an email, a phone call or a personal sit down, don't let this week go by without giving thanks to those who have meant so much to you this past year.

Take the Give Thanks Challenge and watch the Ripples your "thanks" create.

I would be remiss if I didn't share my personal and heartfelt thanks for having each of you as a reader of this BLOG. It isn't always perfect and sometimes my wild tangents are well, wild, but the support and love my readers show me means more to me than you could possibly imagine. I am so thankful to have this opportunity to share my thoughts, my words and my actions with each of you. It is because of you that the Ripple lives and no amount of words could possibly explain how thankful and appreciative I am for having you in my life.


Gobble Ripple Gobble On!!!!