thanksgiving importance | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

The Whole Point Of Thanksgiving Is Missed When We Rush Straight To Christmas

Turkey day needs some love too.

53
https://unsplash.com/photos/RPjyNMHDrFY
Element5 Digital

First things first: I love Christmas with every fiber of my being.

Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" is a classic. Shopping while being surrounded by Christmas decorations gives me an actual adrenaline rush. I have an entire marathon of Christmas movies that I watch every year that I never get tired of. Just looking at overly fat, decorated to the nines, Christmas trees make my entire day. It quite literally is the most wonderful time of the year.

Now that we got that out of the way, guys, it is early November. It not Christmas yet. Chill.

The minute Spooky Season is over everyone whips out the Santa hats and blasts "Jingle Bell Rock." It's trending to skip straight to Christmas. Yes, the memes are hilarious and Twitter is having a field day, but it's not even just the younger generation. I went to the mall on November 1st and, I shit you not, the Christmas decorations were already up. Like, what type of elf-hybrids have that much skill to do that in that short amount of time? Anyway, as I said, I totally love Christmas. And I really wish it was Black Friday—but it's not.

As a whole, we are skipping Thanksgiving and that's not okay.

Granted, it is kind of easy to overlook the importance of Thanksgiving sometimes. You sit down at a perfectly decorated table and immediately become entranced by the large amounts of food—because, hell yeah, pumpkin pie and turkey. But the trance is broken once your overly nosey family members start grilling you about your personal life. The next thing you know, your whole family starts to gang up and you're as roasted as the ham (am I projecting? Probably). Aside from all that, Thanksgiving's origination has kinda a rocky history too, to say the least.

Clearly, I'm not even that much of a fan of Thanksgiving. But, to its core, the holiday has a really beautiful message.

In a society where we have a world of knowledge at our fingertips, it is easy to become desensitized to how lucky we actually are. Not even material possessions, but the connections and bonds we make need to be recognized. It is a day where you share a moment with the people you love, even if they drive you crazy, and appreciate what the universe/God has given you.

Thanksgiving is a holiday of thanks. Christmas is a holiday of giving. You have to be thankful for what you have before you give to the people you are thankful for. I love Christmas, way more than I love Thanksgiving. But Thanksgiving's overall message is necessary, especially in a time where mass shootings are normalized. It is scary to say, but anything can happen, so it is important to savor the moments and be thankful for them.

So before you start blasting the Christmas tunes and watching Elf for the 100th time, think about what you are thankful for. Christmas is worth the wait.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

4605
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

303257
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments