WCW Editorial: The Meaning of Thanksgiving
Viewpoint by Andrew Scharf, Head of the WCW Group
Living in France has taught us a lot about Thanksgiving. I won’t claim that life has been simple but it has been filled with grace and gratitude. Thanksgiving for us has been much more than a feast; it is celebration of the spirit. If you prefer, it is a secular Christmas with all the trimmings of friendship and love with open hearts.
It is quite an interesting phenomenon to celebrate one of America’s greatest holidays far from American shores. It is a holiday transplanted to a new land, which has seen this holiday with peculiar eyes. Art Buchwald, the former columnist for the Herald Tribune once wrote a fabulous article in which he tries to explain Thanksgiving to the French. The article is ripe with rich humour and is immediately understood by all of us who live abroad. It is not always easy to explain holidays outside their original context. Our French friends love Thanksgiving. Perhaps not for the same reasons, but they are not averse to celebrating Christmas twice. Who doesn’t like feasting?
When it comes to the Arts of the Table, who can appreciate the style and the context more than the French? Good wine, good food, and comradeship is a combination hard to beat. However, isn’t Thanksgiving much more than just a fabulous meal with a turkey the size of a table?
Often lost in the clutter of good cheer and a meal, which could probably feed half of Africa, it is important to remember the intentions of the Founding Fathers and pilgrims. The whole point of Thanksgiving is to literally give thanks to “Big Boss” with love and gratitude. There is so much to be thankful for such as the blessing and gift of life itself.
Harnessing Opportunity
The human experience is so rich with its infinite opportunities and learning environments. The privilege to grow, to stretch, to make an impact beyond our own world’s is just one of the many ways we can experience this adventure. In a city such as Paris, many people can feel lost without a sense of purpose and identity. Many inhabitants no longer see the beauty, the charm and the lights. All they see is drudgery, work, and obligations. The joy of life slowly leaves their eyes. The spiritual side of feast days gives us all a chance to refocus and to look upward. Not into an endless sky, but deep within our own hearts where we can all live on a higher plane of existence.
Celebrations have the liberating effect of getting us to drop the negative and to laugh, not take things too seriously, and to share aspirations with smiles.
The Wild Turkey of Happiness
Every human being is searching for happiness at some level. For some it’s finding a new job. For others it’s about finding companionship. And for others, it is about survival. Living standards vary dramatically across the world; we all know this but remain ensconced in our own cocoons. The images we see on television are virtual. They can affect us for a moment, but then we go back to our own habits and anxieties. However, celebrations such as Thanksgiving allow us to drop our shells and come out into the sunshine, to share, to rejoice, and to relativise. The positive impact can be far reaching if we do so with determination that each one of us has a responsibility to help others also celebrate the beauty of their own lives.
Last year brought about many changes in the world, and not just in the United States. The “crisis” touches many, and the multitudes are often unseen. Forget that there are people who just feather their own nests and satisfy their basest desires without consequence. Such individuals are always there; they are also part of the human drama. In a way, we should welcome them because they allow those of us with an open heart to shine out all the brighter to others demonstrating that there is a positive alternative. The “fight” is worth the struggle.
Some people claim that happiness is ephemeral and those moments such as these passes like a wind through the naked branches of trees shaking in the tempest. This is what makes happiness all the more precious. Its impermanence is permanent unless we find the keys to be happy no matter what our material conditions. Genuine happiness is beyond bottom lines or trinkets and trash. It is our birthright, and it is obtainable.
The sun sheds light without discrimination. Grace and gratitude do likewise.
The path of the MBA Samurai
I have often talked about the path of the MBA Samurai in this blog. However, you don’t need an MBA to follow this path. The path is open to all. All it requires is an open heart. It is here that we can all find the happiness that we seek. Nobody can take happiness away from us if we know that the power is inside of each of us. Only you can throw it away by choosing a different path. Think of the smiles of young children free of the dross of the world with its misgivings. Children make us all smile for they understand the meaning of Thanksgiving without thought. For them, it is understanding beyond the intellect.
Remember, the only moment in which you live is now. So, rejoice!
Happy Thanksgiving.
For Further Information
For anyone seeking to fulfil his or her personal or professional expectations, please feel free to consult Whitefield Consulting Worldwide or send us an email on how we can help.
