Thanksgiving was originally a celebration between the Pilgrims, who arrived in the United States from England, and the Native American Indians who helped them to survive here.
It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap, to distinguish which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He also taught them how to plant corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound (www.holidays.net/thanksgiving). The Pilgrims had built homes in the wilderness, raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had much to be thankful for.Like many holiday celebrations in America today, Thanksgiving has become another reason to “over-indulge”. Thanksgiving for many families has become an all-day feast with so much food that people are eating “left-overs” for a week. Not to mention the fact that people gorge themselves until they cant even breathe and then need a nap within an hour. And how many families don’t even stop and reflect on all the good things in their lives and instead argue over whom is not helping enough? This is completely opposite of what the original Thanksgiving celebration was about.
The first Thanksgiving celebration with the Pilgrims and Indians is said to have lasted three days and is believed to have been in mid-October. They played games, ran races, marched and played drums. That hardly sounds like a group of people who “stuffed” themselves until they couldn’t move. The closest thing to that we have today in our Thanksgiving traditions is the big Macy’s Parade and the numerous amount of football games being played, all of which most of us are watching from the couch.
Getting together with family and friends and cooking up a storm can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there are too many people in the world without shelter and who are barely getting one meal a day. Thanksgiving should be a time to go out of our way to help those who need it and to be extremely grateful for all of the people and things in our lives they we have. Be safe, be considerate, and enjoy!
Cindy Fox - “Fitness Diva”
www.cindyfoxfitness.com
(photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xybermatthew)