Giving Thanks
This is traditionally the time of year we set aside a day to give thanks. We call it Thanksgiving Day (how appropriate)
History tells us as school children stories of Pilgrims and Indians, a bipartisan truce so the Pilgrims would not starve and freeze to death and a shared meal. Of course, it all went to hell in a handwoven hand basket from there. The Pilgrims stole the Indians land, bought Manhattan for a few strings of beads decades later, and the rest...well...skyscrapers for one and reservations for the other (and not the kind for dinner).
Whatever you are giving thanks for this year, just remember those less fortunate than you. I know you may think you have nothing to offer. If you can read this post you have a computer, smart phone, or some other device to access the internet. This means you have choices on how you spend your disposable cash. A little goes a long way for someone who has nothing.
Many of us have adopted the mindset that anyone can alter their circumstances in life if they want to, go to work, get a job, etc. Often that is true, often it is more complicated. I have been guilty of this mindset myself. Only when I came face to face with true homelessness and poverty and the root cause did I alter my opinion.
Make sure that however you decide to give goes directly to the ones in need. Please do a bit of homework on the organization, as many of them have very high salaries for admins which suck the life out of contributions. I learned this the hard way as well. Often charity works best one on one, hand to mouth so to say.
This is the perfect time of year to try it out. I'll bet in two weeks you will never miss that new trinket, but the cash spent may be the difference between someone being cold and hungry or being warm and full, if just for few evenings. Just think about it.
Be thankful and not greedy. Be the Indian and not the Pilgrim. As always...xx.DT
History tells us as school children stories of Pilgrims and Indians, a bipartisan truce so the Pilgrims would not starve and freeze to death and a shared meal. Of course, it all went to hell in a handwoven hand basket from there. The Pilgrims stole the Indians land, bought Manhattan for a few strings of beads decades later, and the rest...well...skyscrapers for one and reservations for the other (and not the kind for dinner).
Whatever you are giving thanks for this year, just remember those less fortunate than you. I know you may think you have nothing to offer. If you can read this post you have a computer, smart phone, or some other device to access the internet. This means you have choices on how you spend your disposable cash. A little goes a long way for someone who has nothing.
Many of us have adopted the mindset that anyone can alter their circumstances in life if they want to, go to work, get a job, etc. Often that is true, often it is more complicated. I have been guilty of this mindset myself. Only when I came face to face with true homelessness and poverty and the root cause did I alter my opinion.
Make sure that however you decide to give goes directly to the ones in need. Please do a bit of homework on the organization, as many of them have very high salaries for admins which suck the life out of contributions. I learned this the hard way as well. Often charity works best one on one, hand to mouth so to say.
This is the perfect time of year to try it out. I'll bet in two weeks you will never miss that new trinket, but the cash spent may be the difference between someone being cold and hungry or being warm and full, if just for few evenings. Just think about it.
Be thankful and not greedy. Be the Indian and not the Pilgrim. As always...xx.DT
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