This Thanksgiving season, being grateful might feel a little harder than in other years. It’s cold, the turkeys are stricken with avian flu, and the political climate is divisive as ever. There’s a lot going on in this country that has given many, if not all of us, need for concern. I could spend a long time writing about all the worries that plague the average American today.
But that doesn’t mean I should.
This time of year, instead of scrutinizing over the flaws and imperfections of today, I think we need a moment to step back and see that there is so much to be grateful for despite the worries and the cold.
Specifically I want to step back into a time and place known as Plymouth — in the year 1620. America has always had its fair share of hardships and challenges throughout all times in history, but certainly this one event should count as one of the hardest.
It is unimaginable how awful that first year in Plymouth must have been. With no time to build shelter on land by winter, the settlers would have to resort to staying inside the Mayflower trying to keep each other warm regardless of the illness they passed while doing so.
The spring was slow to come and by that time, more than half of the 105 passengers that were brought on the ship passed away due to illnesses.
These events took place before the Native Americans discovered the pilgrims — before the first Thanksgiving. After so much sorrow that had taken place, it is difficult to imagine that a large celebration was even achievable. So how did they achieve it?
The simple answer I could give you is gratitude.
But then how would being grateful have anything to do with surviving? After all, wouldn’t gratitude have come only after they had been saved by the Native Americans, not before? Was there anything to be grateful for during this hardship?
While I can’t say for sure — not without traveling back in time and asking firsthand — I think they did have something they were grateful for: freedom. That was, after all, the one thing that drove them to step aboard the Mayflower in the first place, wasn’t it?
Because of the rule of the king, none of these people could worship what they might in peace. Freedom to worship was such a thing of value to them that they were willing to face the unknown for it. When things were bleak, it was being grateful for freedom that gave them the willingness to stay after that awful winter.
By the time of the Thanksgiving feast there was much to be grateful for, but being grateful is not about things being easy.
Sometimes the most worthwhile things are the hardest to achieve, but if you can remain grateful for the smallest of things eventually the things you seek the most will come to you. Don’t wait for the world to get better; be the thing that makes the world better.
I hope while you are going from store to store in search of a turkey this Thanksgiving, remember that the season is less about a turkey and more about the freedom to do the things that matter most.
– by Ella Hughes (18) Panguitch
Feature image caption: The First Thanksgiving by Barney Burnstein.
Ella Hughes – Panguitch
Ella Hughes is a junior journalist and editor at The Byway. She has recently graduated from Panguitch High School and has written for The Byway for two years now. Her favorite topics to write about are history as well as present-day local events. In her free time she enjoys singing, watching movies, reading books, and spending time with her family she adores.
Ella is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is serving in the Philippines Tacloban Mission.