Thanksgiving is a college student’s wet dream when it comes for free food. It’s a time to go back to the comforts of home and get mom to do all your laundry. It’s a time to feast upon a plethora supply of food, raiding the fridge and pantry of all the goods. It’s a time to enjoy loved ones and for those of you with sibling, it’s a time to fight over the TV, a true past time for any brother or sister.

It’s also time to be thankful for the people who surround us, those who we have developed a close friendship too. It’s a time to reconnect with old friends back home. An opportunity that only comes few and far between.

Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude towards all that is important in our life. To cherish what we have, whether it be a person or a materialistic possession. Since we were children in schools, we have been taught about the importance of expressing gratitude this time of year. However, it’s important to remember not to isolate that gratitude to one holiday. Gratitude should be a daily process in which we must practice in order to live a more meaningful selfless life.

To be grateful is to be free, free in the sense of worry. When we are grateful we think less about ourselves and our own thoughts but develop a better intellect for empathy. We learn to take the pressure off ourselves. As a result we also end up becoming more involved within the present moment, not worrying about past decisions or stressing over our own future. Small acts of gratitude everyday help engulf our life with happiness by educating ourselves to be in the present moment.

Being thankful also teaches us a positive mentality, it teaches us to affirm the virtuous things in our life. When life brings us down, gratitude is there to help us rise up. It helps us look at the positives in life and aids at providing a light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone has their ups and downs but to be down forever creates a spiral of negativity that will be attracted into life, and few individuals appreciate company that is always negative.

Gratitude helps us also develop a sense of goodness that is outside ourselves. By giving thanks, we become thankful for the small gifts and opportunities that are given to us. We learn to appreciate that these gifts have helped us achieve goodness in life. It exemplifies what we have and how it has helped us in life.

Thanksgiving may only come once a year but what we learn to appreciate on that occasion should be carried on in our lives. Appreciate your parents for being there, even if you feel they may not have been the best, many cannot. Being a parent is hard work and sometimes having them be there for you is what matters most.