#51 - A Thanksgiving Special: History, Gratitude, and Timeless Fables

In honor of the holiday this week, we explore the origins of Thanksgiving, sharing history of the holiday along with fun facts about the holiday’s evolution. We also use two fables, “The Pilgrim and the Fox” and “The Five Kernels of Corn,” to reflect on gratitude, perspective, and the unexpected sources of help. 

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Transcript

Intro:

Hello Everyone! Welcome to The Game of Life Podcast; I am Alexandria Burek and I am your host. 

Thank you for picking my show out of the millions to choose from; I am honored and excited to share this time with you! You might have noticed a new and improved debut of the podcast cover art–I actually created this all by myself from scratch and I am impressed :) 

Today, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m excited to share some lesser-known facts about the holiday, explore its origins, and leave you with a thought-provoking fable to reflect on and share with those loved ones you are surrounded by this Thanksgiving! 

Personal Update: 

Dating is still dating. I got a little wild, and I made him banana bread, and shipped it to him. You guys- it is a little hard to ship banana bread, but I am pleased to report, it arrived. I have not heard if it tastes good, but I got it looks good. So. I am excited. I am excited for a time in the not so distant future when we do not live 5 hours away. Banana bread delivery will be much easier. 

Hosting the InvestHER Women's Real Estate Group in Milwaukee this month went about as good as I could have asked for, most of the people who said they would attend did attend, the woman who presented, CRUSHED it, and a new woman came who brought a lot of energy and excitement to the group. I have been far too consumed with home improvement, hosting thanksgiving, and all the other things I have going on to focus on the Racine Country Sale. Perhaps after the buzz and excitement of the holiday passes, I will be able to dedicate some time and energy to the inventory and make a move. 

That is enough of that for today. On to the main course.

Holiday Special {Food For Thought} 

Thanksgiving is widely recognized as a celebration of gratitude for harvests and blessings, but as I prepared for this podcast, I realized how little I actually know about its origins. Today, I’m excited to share a bit of its history, some fun facts, and a couple of fables you can ponder.

Historically speaking, the first thanksgiving took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The first English Settlers (Pilgrims) and Wampanoag (Wahm-puh-no-ag) Native Americans to celebrate their first successful harvest after a harsh winter. It was a three day feast with venison, fowl, and corn. Thereafter, Thanksgiving Feasts were held sporadically to celebrate major accomplishments like harvests, military victories, or signed treaties.

Originally, George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the newly drafted US Constitution and American Independence, later, Sarah Josepha Hale (author of Mary Had a Little Lamb) campaigned that Thanksgiving become a national holiday, and finally in 1863 Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday.

Can’t possibly go without fun facts, so, as hard as it was, I have carefully selected 5 fun facts to share: 

1- Thanksgiving used to be a celebration spanning multiple days, involving feasts, social activities and prayer.

2- Benjamin Franklin wanted Turkey to be the National Bird arguing that the turkey was more respectable than the Bald Eagle which he deemed a scavenger… Weird because it couldn’t be more opposite 

3- Americans eat 46M Turkeys on Thanksgiving – 1 turkey for every 7 people in the US 

4- Turkey didn’t land on the scene until 1900s; before that thanksgiving was all about goose, duck, and venison 

5- Turkey Trots date back to 1896, starting in Buffalo NY with only 6 participants; today roughly 1M runners participate in the century old tradition raising $1.9M for charities. 

Finally wrapping up with two fables that hit home for me as I was preparing for the show: 

The first is called the Pilgrim and the Fox and the story goes like this “A Pilgrim struggled to grow crops in the harsh New England soil. A sly fox watched him and offered advice, saying, “Plant your seeds with a fish to feed them.” Skeptical, the Pilgrim followed the advice and saw his crops flourish. But when he went to thank the fox, it was gone. The fox had quietly helped him to ensure he and his family could survive the winter.” The Moral: Help can come from unexpected sources, and we should be open to learning from others, even when their ways are different from our own.

Recently I was struggling with this financial situation; I had talked about it to many people, but no one recommended any reasonable solutions I could feel good about actioning; it wasn’t until I was talking to a friend of mine who matter of factly, suggested by far the best solution to this problem that I was blind to and no one else thought of. We are all carrying around problems. Sharing your struggles might just lead to solutions you can’t see. Be courageous, ask people for help and advice when in the face of adversity.  

I am eternally grateful to my friend for his recommendation–in a huge way, he save me from a crippling situation. 

The second is called The legend of the Five Kernals of Corn: “During their first winter, food was so scarce that each person was rationed to only five kernels of corn per day. After surviving this difficult time, the Pilgrims celebrated with a bountiful harvest and a feast to express gratitude.” The Moral: This story reminds us to appreciate even the smallest blessings and to never take abundance for granted.

I chose this because it captures the essence of thanksgiving and gratitude. If we take a step back and take a minute to truly appreciate what we have to be thankful for, we can find so much. Clean drinking water, hot showers, a warm, clean house, and the list goes on. I make a sincere effort to think about those things that are easy to take for granted on a daily and weekly basis. I have also become increasingly aware that some things I have the privilege of experiencing or having, are things others would kill for--even if it is something I do not value or appreciate, I try to remind myself that even so, there is someone out there who would be ecstatic about the situation I might just be complaining about. By changing my perspective on that, it has helped me improve my attitude about things I am not thrilled about. I am not saying I am suddenly thrilled, but I usually end up less grouchy. Perhaps you too, can try to use this reframe and improve your attitude and experience with things and people that you might not be thrilled about. Along with this fable was a recommended activity (my sister would love this one) where you place five kernels of corn at each place setting, going around the table sharing five things they are thankful for. I like it. I might try it. Perhaps this will make its way into the personal update on next weeks episode. 

You guys- that's all I have for you today. Thank you for tuning in. As always, I hope you enjoyed the show. Please like the show, rate the show, and most importantly share the show. Next week we will dive back into the food for thought segment; I haven’t decided which book will be covered, so I am going to leave you there with a cliffhanger.  

BYEEEEEEEEEE