A Lesson in Love

Thanksgiving to Christmas can be difficult. The two seasons and how society displays the presence of family and friends gatherings make it more difficult for those alone.

Why do marketers show commercials of lonely people looking at their neighbors having family and friends over? This only intensifies the feeling of loneliness. 

But there is a lesson to be learned here. We should not wait until these two seasons come to focus our attention on the lonely. Every month throughout the year, we should seek those people out and, at minimum, make a phone call or a short visit. 

We have a mandate to take care of anyone in our circle of friends and to seek out the ones who have no one.

God tells us to love one another. It's as simple as that. It doesn't cost one penny to be kind to everyone we meet this time of year. 

Use this holiday season to practice what you will do every month in the upcoming New Year.     

 

Thankful Month

Thankful Month

As the country prepares for Thanksgiving Day, most settle around a dinner table, eat too much, watch a football game, and fall asleep. I think there is more to it than this, or it should be.

I get the whole idea of having a meal because it gathers family and friends together. But do we really need the meal to do this?

Why does it have to be one day out of the year to be thankful?

Expressing gratitude should be a daily practice, not just a one-day event. It's easy to say we're thankful every day, but do our actions reflect this? After the Thanksgiving weekend, we often slip back into our work routine, errands, and other daily activities. Are we truly living a life of gratitude each day?

There are a lot of questions we should ask ourselves every day. We are only here for a short time, and the significant people in our lives should not be acknowledged as a one-day-out-of-the-year event centered around a turkey. It should be every day. 

Tell all those who are part of your life how much you love them and value their friendship. Be especially thankful that they are in your life. 

Photo: pixabay - Alexas_Fotos

The Cost?

The day after Thanksgiving or as most know it as black Friday.

I really don't care for the sales and all the craziness that comes with the madness of the stores opening the doors and people fighting through the crowd to get to the best deals.

It is amazing how businesses can mark down a product 50% or 75% and still make a considerable profit. I often wonder how much a product really cost. What is the actual markup on these black Friday sale items?

Nevertheless, this is capitalism at its best. I hope that one day manufacturing will come back to the United States and consumers buying products today would actually create more jobs.  

So, the next time you are out looking for a sale check to see where it was made. When you buy a product made in another country think about it as taking someone's job.

Buy American.