My Thanksgiving Fail (and a Turkey Tale!): Gratitude Lessons this Holiday

My stepmom emailed me yesterday, reminding me of our fiasco-in-the-kitchen Thanksgiving feast (HA!) which I ever-so-lovingly prepared two years ago. (Actually, attempted to prepare may be a better statement.)

The turkey was inedible on our first go-round (despite carefully timing the cooking down to the minute. I called the Butterball help line so many times I was on a first-name basis with their customer service reps - who are quite nice, FYI.)

As my husband cut into the glorious bird specimen (which I had carefully marinated in an elaborate step-by-step-process the night before - thank you, Martha Stewart), with my parents standing over his shoulder to inspect in wonder, what to our wondering eyes did we find ... but RAW, RED MEAT awaiting us as he deliberately cut. Oh, the horror! Our perfectly planned dinner was now terribly askew! The side dishes were bubbling (along with our stomachs), but the turkey was raw. My children walked out of the kitchen nodding their heads once again at their cooking-challenged mother. As they left the room, I turned the oven to full boar and slammed the bird back in there and told him to burn, baby burn.

Turns out, we put the bird in the roasting pan upside down. Who knew? Apparently that's why it didn't cook appropriately (um ... at all). Have you ever heard anyone doing such a thing? (And then posting it on social media)? Me either.

So - my point? Somehow, despite our usual need for things to go as planned, that Thanksgiving two years ago, we were grateful anyway. Grateful for hot side dishes served on time (and a mom who had recipe success-finally), grateful for family who could laugh about the ordeal rather than fretting, grateful for a business and clients (something we didn't have two Thanksgivings before), grateful for health, and much, much more. We focused on what we had instead of focusing on the immediate thing we didn't have, which was a piping hot turkey, not dripping of blood (kind of a big deal when it's Thanksgiving, no doubt).

A trite example? Yes, of course. My point? A bigger one. We are surrounded by daily opportunities to be grateful. Do we take them?

There is little which is more endearing than appreciation - appreciation for not just the 'big,' but also the very small.

Did you know?

Gratitude is independent of our life circumstances. We can choose to be grateful in any circumstance.
Gratitude is a function of attention. Look around. You are probably more blessed than you realize.
Entitlement hinders gratitude. (Might want to read this again. It's a biggie).
We often take for granted that which we receive on a regular basis.
Gratitude can be cultivated. (We're working on it over here!)
Expressing gratitude, through words and deeds, increases our own feelings of gratitude. (Try writing a kind card or email and sending it- you'll feel better and so will the recipient!)
Our deepest sense of gratitude comes through grace, with the awareness that we have not earned, nor do we deserve all that we've been given.

I'll be thinking of you Thursday, as you cut into that turkey. I'm confident yours won't be raw red.

Oh - and don't worry about us. We're eating out. No more bloody turkey here (although I may have a Bloody Mary.) My children are permanently scarred. They are simply grateful we are eating out ... they're ordering hamburgers instead of turkey.

I'm grateful for you! Love to all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Grateful,

Lauri

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