It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Can you believe the Holidays are here again? Thanksgiving is just a week away.
When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of lots of people and chatter. I picture noise and lights, and television. I remember lots of hard-prepared foods and lots of dishes. Yet, the wonderful thing about the Holidays is that it brings people together, who you may not get to see but once or twice a year.
Seth and I have been trying something new in our house recently. We want to be present in our conversations with each other and the guests who come into our home, so we have started putting our cell phones up when we enter the house. We now have a little cubby where we can see if we need to answer a phone call or message but it also takes the attachment to the device away from us. No more need to possess a silent phone and continually check to see if we missed something.
It’s a difficult adjustment, trying to change the culture, but it’s liberating as well.
So, this is my challenge this Thanksgiving to you: Be present. Step away from the phones, the football games, and the computer screens and be present in the moments you have been given. Try to silence the noises and lights, the hustle and bustle, to have a conversation and truly listen. Engage with your loved ones. Look them in the eye and silence the busyness that prevents us from using all of our senses to connect with someone. Its amazing what we can miss because we are not in-tune with the feelings and needs of the person on the other end of the conversation.
