Even When You Can See The End, Be Thankful, Still
I’m thankful for the Americans who came before us and bestowed this gift of civilization upon us.
Obviously, today is Thanksgiving and you all have more important things to do than to read my blog, so I’m going to keep this short. I was initially not planning on publishing anything today, intending instead to use part of the day to work on drafts, but Daisy Luther over at The Organic Prepper published a brief Thanksgiving piece, so I felt I’d be remiss if I didn’t say a word myself and shared my gratitude with all you who spend your valuable time reading thoughts from the dark recesses of my mind when you could easily be doing something else with your time!
Before getting to my bit, I want to share what Luther said, because I think it’s important to remember why this day matters:
Just as our long-ago Puritan ancestors were grateful for some corn and pumpkin and their new neighbors who showed them the fruits of this land (before all-out slaughter occurred, but that’s outside the scope of this article), we too have small, humble blessings which we must not overlook.
Perhaps you’re having chicken instead of turkey this year, visiting a soup kitchen for your meal, cobbling together a feast based on what you have on hand, or just having a burger. It could be that you’re all alone and missing your family and a video call is a cold comfort when you just want a hug from the people you love. You may have downgraded your living accommodations due to our economic crisis, or you could be packing up to do just that, or hosting your last Thanksgiving in a home where you raised your children and lived the story of your life.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that some people have it worse. You already know that and it surely does not make your situation any better. Life isn’t a game of, “Well at least things aren’t as bad as they are for Hildebrand next door.” (And if that IS your life, you need to re-prioritize, ASAP.)
Your life and your financial situation may have been better in the past. But you’re still alive to fight another day and what greater gift could there be than that?
So say we all. We’re all still here. And if there’s someone or something you’ve lost along the way, there’s probably nothing I can say to make the pain of loss any better, unfortunately. What I can do is remind everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to remember what we do still have.
More from Luther:
Instead, think about the things you have to be grateful for without comparison, because I assure you, your low point would be a high point for many others.
You have a roof over your head.
You have food on your table.
You’re not in immediate, life-threatening danger.
You have someone, anyone to love.
The simplest things are the most important. Look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The base of that pyramid is made up of the things that are most essential to life.
Luther posts a graphic of Maslow’s hierarchy pyramid. Read her article and see for yourself: are any of your most important needs - the bottom four - not being met in your life? If so, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your life. But we won’t get into that today.
Luther concludes:
It sounds like nothing and yet it’s everything. Trust me, if you have lived without having those needs met, without knowing where your next meal is coming from or where you’ll stay that night or if someone is going to come home and beat the crap out of you, you will agree that these pieces of security that so many take for granted mean the world.
If you have those needs met, then you have something for which to be grateful. While it may not be fancy and it may not be what it once was, you have the basics of survival, and you have this day to be thankful for it. If you have the internet or a phone to reach those who can’t be with you, you are still blessed with their presence in some way. Instead of thinking about what you don’t have, think about what you do have.
And:
Think about all the times throughout history when these things were not a given as they are now. Think about people living on the streets, those who survived the shelling and mayhem of the Balkan war, those who are victims of trafficking, those who live life in fear of not finding their next meal or surviving until the next day.
One of the greatest benefits of preparedness is learning to appreciate not only the small things in life, but the things we’ve long since taken for granted. I talk about personal and public safety extensively on this blog, so it may seem to some that I’m worried about my physical well-being on a constant basis. But I’m not. At least, I’m not preoccupied by it. We just don’t live in that world. And because I don’t have to worry constantly whether I’m going to live or be killed, it allows me to worry about other things. Sometimes, worrying about these other things comes off as a luxury, strange as that is to say.
This isn’t to say our personal concerns are trivial. They’re not. It’s to say instead that we could always be worrying about far worse. Bleak as it may be to consider, not everyone in this world lives with the confidence they’re going to be alive the following morning, let alone later that same day.
Daisy Luther also started a “Friendsgiving” forum for those who want to chat with other members of the prepping community. Whether you care to or not, here’s what I wrote there and it constitutes my Thanksgiving address to you all as well:
Hey all!
I’m spending the day alone – my parents live close by, but they just moved to a new residence, so doing any kind of Thanksgiving celebration isn’t really feasible. It looks like I’m going to spend the day amusing myself, which is perfectly fine. Others out there have it far worse than I. I’m going to see them this weekend anyway, so we’ll do a belated Thanksgiving celebration with the luxury of having restaurants open!
My family has kept it simple when it comes to Thanksgiving. It’s a difficult meal to prepare for and I have nothing but great appreciation for those who took the time to do so throughout the years, my own mother included. Personally, I love a traditional Thanksgiving feast, but it never really caught on in my family, so I was always happy to eat what everyone else wanted to eat. Maybe in the future, when the pieces are in place, I can look at preparing things like deep-fried turkey (the only way to prepare turkey), candied yams (my favorite), and everything else as part of an annual tradition.
We in the prepper community love to talk about how bad things are getting in the world – for good reason – but I believe we all have so much to be thankful for. For one, it hasn’t all completely unraveled yet. Cold comfort, I know, but there are people out there who’ve been living out SHTFs their entire lives or on a cyclical basis. If you’ve lived in America or the West your entire lives, this isn’t something you can relate with, nor would I attempt to, either.
Instead, I’d recognize what a privilege it is to live in civilization, in stability, if for no other reason than to mentally prepare yourself and your loved ones for the dark days to come. Nobody likes losing what we had, but if it’s going to happen, better to love it now than to regret not doing so later. The loss will be difficult to endure, either way.
As for myself, personally, I’ve done lots of growing personally and professionally throughout the year. We’re all in a state of flux, none of us are really in as steady as state as we think we are. And that’s the way it ought to be. Change is the only constant in life, but the idea is to ensure the changes are in your favor. I’m thankful that, for the most part, the only thing I’ve had to worry about were personal and professional matters. I’ve not had to worry much about my health nor the well-being of my family members. I’m fortunate to have people in my life who take care of themselves.
Lastly, my blog has done some tremendous growing throughout the year. I think most people in the media world have forgotten, but it’s not an entitlement to have a captive audience. You need to earn it and keep. I feel like I’ve been doing both, but it wouldn’t have happened unless I had readers who cared enough about what I had to say. So thank you to all my readers for joining me on this journey. I hope you’ll continue to stick with me as we navigate these increasingly troubled waters together.
Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a long, enjoyable, restful weekend. We’ve all earned it!
I want to add one more thing: I’m thankful for the Americans who came before us and bestowed this gift of civilization upon us. It was a long, tough road to where we are today, a fact which seems to be lost on one too many Americans. The names and faces of our fore-bearers may be lost to history, but not in the hearts of us real Americans. It’s because of them we got to enjoy, if only for a moment in historical terms, good times and what we’ve come to regard as “normalcy.” Our American ancestors endured hard times so those who came after them could one day enjoy the fruits of civilization.
Whether your family has been on this soil since the Pilgrims first arrived, or whether you are the first in your family to be born on this land, the first Americans are our ancestors. And I’m not sure we’re doing right by them. But no matter what comes to pass, may they not think less of us.
If you feel alone or dissatisfied this Thanksgiving, look beyond yourself. This holiday isn’t about you. It’s about them. If you give thanks to nothing else, give it to them. May our descendants honor us much the same.
On that note, if you wanted to see how the early Americans prepared turkey for dinner, watch this video created by the wonderful Ron and Justine of the YouTube channel “Early American.” It’s a lot of work making a hearty feast at any point in history, but this is how our ancestors did it. Not only does it make me hungry, it makes me proud to be an American and to have inherited their gifts.
What about you? What are your thoughts on this Thanksgiving? How are you spending your day? What dishes are part of your “best of” Thanksgiving menu? Most important, what are you thankful for?
And in case I didn’t say it: Happy Thanksgiving!
Max Remington writes about armed conflict and prepping. Follow him on Twitter at @AgentMax90.
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