Thanksgiving has always been a profound holiday to me. We don’t celebrate a particular event or person. We celebrate the people in our lives, our love, their love, family and friendship.

We do it with too much food, love and laughter.

It reminds us what’s important.  It reminds us who we really are.

We’re unlimited in our ability to reach out and touch each other in ways that have great deep emotional and spiritual meaning and satisfaction. 

This is what distinguishes us as human beings, as humanity.

I was deeply moved by an email I received from one of our students in response to a recent  article I’d written.

He wrote:

“I seem to have so many great conversations with people out of the blue that inspire me and confirm that things aren’t as bad in this world/country as it appears.  I find that if you take the initiative to inquire, speak, be friendly… people are normally so open to share and you are able to see the real side of people/humanity.  It’s so refreshing when it seems all we hear is the complete opposite. 

“I rode my motorcycle to the DMV yesterday to update my registration.  When I came back to my bike, there was an elderly lady in an SUV parked next to me with her door open.  It was obvious that there was some interest/curiosity there.  She made some complimentary remarks about my bike and inquired about what it’s like to ride.

So I naturally expressed how it made me feel, how the world looks different when riding and how great of a stress relief it is for me.  She obviously had thought about it before, because what I said seemed to confirm her thinking. 

She mentioned how she likes to understand other people’s perspectives on things. I mentioned that we should all be that way on so many issues.  We talked for a while about parts of the country we have visited, loved ones killed in tragic motorcycle accidents and other items of mutual interest.  

“I felt like I could sit down for coffee with this elderly black lady and talk about anything (race, politics you name it) and have a positive and productive, unintimidating conversation.

“You can’t imagine how refreshed I felt leaving there.  

“Not only did it give me a much better (and likely realistic) view of our country, but it also reinforced the power of communication and more specifically establishing a conversation based on listening and understanding what the “other” person has to convey first. It made my day.

“My lesson in this is to stop and talk to that person sitting on the bench, passing me on the street, in the grocery store or even at the DMV.  Imagine what a better world it would be If we all did this more often. This is precious, something you can’t bottle or buy in a store!”

This is who we really are.  Unlimited in our ability to reach out and touch each other in ways that have great deep emotional and spiritual meaning. 

Wishing you a beautiful, love-filled Thanksgiving, one that lifts you up and fills your soul.

Be the cause!