By Loretta Graham

This month, we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Many will be cooking turkeys, baking apple pies, pumpkin pies, and sweet potato pies. It is important to get together with family and friends.

As we celebrate, let us reflect back on how blessed we are. Let’s not allow food and football to make us forget the reason we celebrate this day. We have many reasons to be thankful.

I often find myself reflecting back on giving thanks. My mother always believed that you can learn a lot about a person if you sit down and share a meal with them. I think of our Savior – during a meal, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to others. Then after supper, He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to others as well. Let us all be people with grateful hearts to others and let us show acceptance and appreciation.

Maya Angelou once said: “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.”

Being thankful brings the power of gratitude to life. When we show our appreciation, our hearts will overflow with thankfulness because we have a reason to be grateful. Gratitude tenderizes the heart. It helps us focus on what is important to us and it opens us up to love, kindness, and goodness.

Does thanking someone come naturally to us or do we need to be reminded to thank someone? Have you ever forgotten to give thanks? I know I have. When was the last time you gave of yourself instead of receiving? Some people are appreciative by nature. Thankfulness is the opposite of selfishness.

Let’s make sure we take time this Thanksgiving to celebrate and spend time with our families, and do things that we enjoy. Most of all, take the time to say thank you to the people who have blessed us with so much.

To every supporter of Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois – thank you for your gifts of time and talent. Thank you for investing in our girls because you are making a difference in their lives. Making a difference is the motivation and the satisfaction of why you support us. Thank you for believing in an organization that is building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who will truly make our world a better place – because true love is not what we receive; it is what we give!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!!!

This op-ed piece was provided by the Girls Scouts of Southern Illinois.