Ok now be honest, are you the type that dismisses Thanksgiving and puts up Christmas decorations? I have a neighbor that even skips Halloween and already has their Xmas tree up! Now it is a free country and people can do what they want... it's just a little annoying. It almost seems that some people are defying one holiday by decorating for another and they want us all to know about it. I am all for freedom, and if you don't want to celebrate a specific holiday, that is fine just hold off on the decorations til its time to decorate for the holidays you do celebrate. Leaving your xmas lights all year long doesn't count, just means you're redneck... and that's ok.
I have said before I love all of the holidays, and Thanksgiving is my favorite. It is the more relaxed time when the weather starts to cool down and the hunting season is in full swing. To really appreciate Thanksgiving we have to go back to it's origin and why we even celebrate the holiday. Today we can go to the grocery store and just buy food, back in the 1600s and earlier people had to work, farm, and hunt for their food. If you have ever tried for grow your own food you'll understand how hard it can be. Remember back then you couldn't buy potting soil and there was no plumbing to water the crops, you had to rely on Mother Nature.
The first settlers quickly came to the harsh reality of the wilderness, many of these settlers died from starvation, exposure, and sickness. So eventually the settlers established a means of growing crops but there were no guarantees if harvest would be successful. Life was hard and everyone worked their share, so when their harvest was bountiful people had cause for celebration. Those celebrations where known as harvest festivals, it was a time to be happy and to be thankful for a full belly of food. For many it would be the years before they had what you or I would consider a normal meal, or until next good harvest. Eventually this became the holiday we know as Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving became a Federal holiday in 1863, thanks to Abraham Lincoln, he stated it to be national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."
So to sum it up whether you are a religious person or not, we can all appreciate the reason why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Giving thanks is not just something you do on Thanksgiving, it's something you take with you and apply it to every aspect of your life. We celebrate to remind us of our history and what people had to do. We as a society stand on the shoulders of those before us that pioneered the way. Theses days it's more important than ever to remember this, from the entitlement problem we have with some people. The entitled feel they deserve things or that everything should just change for them... even though they have done nothing.
Ok so how do you prepare your stomach to eat all that goodness we call Thanksgiving dinner?!? Well there are a couple of ways to approach this, you could use portion control method. You could just pick certain favorites and eat away. Then of course there is the go big or go home approach. Out of the 3 the first 2 are the most sensible and healthy way to go... But lets face it, for most that all goes out the window and we throw caution to the wind... we go big!!! You load your flimsy paper plate beyond capacity, almost dropping food, and you make your way to the table. You get back up because forgot your drink and glance at all the pies, then before you're so full it hurts.
The go big method is to get used to eating big meals and that way you train your stomach. It takes some time to do this, so you'll have to feast all month. Does this really work? Some say yes, others say it's all bullshit. I'll let you decide... Have a great November, hug and kiss your loved ones and enjoy your Thanksgiving!