The holiday season is a tough one for a lot of people. Your family might be a huge trigger for you, this may be the first holiday without a loved one, maybe you are trying to stay sober and everyone else is drinking, or perhaps you don’t like the reason for celebrating Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving history has a lot of not-so-great history behind it.) Whatever your reason for having a hard time with the holiday is, it is valid and you can shape Thanksgiving into something more meaningful to you.
1. Gratitude
Make Thanksgiving about being grateful.
- Make a gratitude list
- Be grateful for and volunteer your time for those who don’t have what you have.
- Write a note to the special people in your life expressing gratitude towards them
2. Eat whatever you want
- Get Chinese takeout if you don’t like turkey
- Make your favorite meal
- Make a family recipe
- Try a recipe that is connected to your heritage
- Don’t be hard on yourself for whatever you choose to eat. You don’t have to eat less another day to eat more on this day.
3. Start new more meaningful traditions
- Write what you are grateful for about each person at your table and have them read them out loud
- Have a bake off
- Eat only desserts
- Have a Friendsgiving
- Make it themed – red carpet, pajama party, cocktail attire, movie marathon, mocktails only
- Maybe take this time to travel or spend time recharging
4. Acknowledge and become educated about our country’s history
- Learn something about the Indian tribe that used to live on the land you now live on.
- Donate to Indigenous people’s causes https://impactful.ninja/best-charities-for-native-americans/
You don’t need to stick yourself in the box of tradition if that tradition doesn’t serve you. You don’t need to do things just because they have always been done that way. The holidays are what you make it and sometimes that requires letting go of the expectations of others. Being okay with disappointing others for the sake of your own self-preservation. You get to make meaning out of the holidays and it starts with listening to yourself.
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