Happy Thanksgiving 2018!  As an adult, I really came to appreciate Thanksgiving.  As a kid, Christmas is the best (for those who celebrate).  Kids like getting gifts.  But even beyond that, there is a certain ambience about it all.  I still love Christmas, but it is more stressful than it once was.

I like Thanksgiving because I find there is a little less stress associated with it.  It can be stressful if you are traveling, and it can be a little stressful cooking for a large number of people.  But to me, I find it is a more low-key version of Christmas, regardless of whether you celebrate the religious aspect of Christmas.

I do believe it is important to acknowledge thanks for things in our lives.  Life is difficult for almost anyone.  Even people with a lot of money can’t buy a guarantee to health and happiness.  Money can help in some ways in those aspects, but only if used wisely. And there are still no guarantees.

Despite life being hard, we live in the best time ever in history, and it is good to acknowledge that.  It is said that someone living 200 years ago had far more in common with someone living 2,000 years ago than they would have in common with someone today.  This is absolutely true.  If you want to look at a true hockey stick graph, look at a graph that applies to our history of living standards.  It was close to flat for thousands of years.  Then, in the matter of less than 200 years, we get cars, airplanes, electricity, refrigeration, air conditioning, televisions, computers, and the Internet.

Aside from our material wealth, we really should be grateful for the things we have.  Most people have somebody in their life whom they love and receive love back.  Most people have at least one person whom they can call a friend.

I would like to start something in my own family called a Grateful Board.  I haven’t worked out the details yet, but I would like for each family member to write something on the board that they are thankful for. This could be done on a daily basis, although maybe that is too often.  It should be at least on a weekly basis.  You would erase your previous answer, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t still grateful for that previous answer.

My last word of advice regarding Thanksgiving is to not get involved in political arguments at the dinner table, and perhaps not at all on that day.  If politics does come up, don’t be argumentative.  You can state your point of view in a calm manner without resorting to any attacks.  You probably aren’t going to change anybody’s mind, so you might as well keep the peace.

Watching Television and Being Productive

When I give advice in writing here, sometimes I am giving myself advice, or at least a reminder to follow my own advice.  So I was thinking about something the other day, and I just want to share it with others (and again, for my own benefit).

I don’t watch a lot of television, but I still probably end up watching over an hour a day on most days.  I find it is a time to decompress at night, so I think it is ok in this respect.

I don’t have many regular shows that I watch, and the few that I do watch on a regular basis, I can watch “on demand”.  One thing I do watch is sports.  Even here, I have cut back on watching football to probably just a couple of hours per week.  Maybe I will watch a whole game if I am particularly interested.

I was thinking the other day about golf.  I typically just watch the major tournaments.  But I can’t even remember who won the last four majors. I remember that Tiger Woods was in the hunt a couple of times, but I can’t match up all four of the past winners with each tournament, which would have all been within the past 8 months. Yet, I watch all four majors. I don’t watch every single day of a tournament, but I typically watch a couple of hours on Saturday and at least a couple of hours on Sunday.

Even in football, I can tell you who won the last Superbowl, but I have trouble going back beyond this.  I know all of the good teams over the last decade or two, and I can remember when my team won. But it is amazing that you can follow an entire season, watching perhaps a total of 50 or more hours, yet you completely forget who won about two years later.  I can always look it up and say “oh, yeah” to myself, but I hope you get my point.

I don’t know if I will watch any less sports because of this revelation.  I am sure I will be watching the Masters golf tournament next spring, and I will continue to follow football and other sports.  But maybe I will cut back on the margin because of this.

The key here is intentionality.  This is the case with a lot of things in life.  If you are going to waste time on something, or waste money on something, then at least be intentional about it.

If you say to yourself that you’ve had a long week and just need an hour to unwind, then it is fine to channel surf and find something that interests you.  You are being productive in the sense that you are de-stressing.

Again, the intentionality is the important thing.  If you find yourself bored, so you just watch television, it probably isn’t a good formula in life.  Time is a precious resource, and we should treat it as such.  You don’t always have to be productive, and being productive doesn’t always mean making money.  But I believe it is worthwhile to live for something. Part of leading a good life is finding fulfillment, and you probably aren’t going to find that watching television on a consistent basis.