Every year, the national holiday of Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, and is an important time for Americans to take time to show gratitude to their families and the things they have been given. Thanksgiving is a meaningful holiday that deserves recognition and time reserved to celebrate it.
Many people start celebrating Christmas and put up their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, and while Christmas is a great holiday, Thanksgiving deserves to be enjoyed before Christmas does.
“It’s its own holiday, and even though it’s not a big one, I think it’s still important to celebrate what it stands for and the thankfulness of it,” freshman Riley Avale said.
In life, it’s very easy to look for the negative and what we don’t have. To look at our problems and what is going wrong in our lives, instead of what we do have and what is going right. Thanksgiving, the season of gratitude, gives people the opportunity to do the opposite of that.
“Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have, instead of always reaching for something new in the hope it will make them happier, or thinking they can’t feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack,” a Harvard Health Publishing article said.
Additionally, an article by UCLA Health touched on how being grateful for a prolonged time (six weeks) can reduce depression symptoms. It discussed how gratitude can cause less stress and anxiety and improve sleep. While these things take time, it is still beneficial and helpful for people to set aside time every year to really focus on everything they have and have been given.
Furthermore, Thanksgiving is a time to focus on family and friends.
“It’s always been a big holiday in my family; Thanksgiving. Christmas was important, but it wasn’t a big family gathering. So I just love seeing my sisters and being with my parents and nieces and nephews and all that as they grow,” math teacher Shelly Soltis said.
Building relationships with our family and friends and reflecting on everything our loved ones have sacrificed for us is a worthwhile pursuit.
“Expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and self-esteem. When you realize how much people have done for you or how much you have accomplished, you feel more confident and efficacious,” Dr. Sonya Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside, said.
Some people may argue that not everyone has a family to be thankful for, so it may be an uncomfortable time and easier for that individual to celebrate only Christmas and skip Thanksgiving. While that is a valid concern, there are still other fundamental people in their lives, including friends, colleagues and peers that they can give thanks to instead.
And it’s not just time to celebrate Thanksgiving and to give thanks. It is also a time to celebrate the fall season and acknowledge the beauty of autumn.
“I feel like they’re ending fall early ’cause Christmas is a winter holiday, and there’s snow involved. But then I feel like it’s still fall now and people are already starting to celebrate Christmas and I feel they’re just not acknowledging the rest of fall,” freshman Ava Jacobson said when asked what people miss out on when they start celebrating Christmas right after Halloween.
Fall is a beautiful time, especially in State College, where the leaves turn golden brown, orange, red and yellow. It’s a time for pumpkins, candy apples, and pumpkin spice cookies. A time to appreciate the beauty of nature, and to enjoy the weather. It is its own season, and people miss out on these unique-to-fall activities when they turn their focus to Christmas too early.
“Fall is a really cozy time. The leaves and all…the decorations are considered to be really pretty. And if they go straight to winter, there’s no celebration of fall. And yeah, it just goes straight from scariness to winter instead of enjoying this fall,” Avale said.
Above all, Thanksgiving is a special holiday that deserves to be celebrated and enjoyed before Christmas celebrations.
