Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are having a happy turkey day with all your loved ones. Thanksgiving is one of me and my husbands`favorite holidays. (and he is Spanish) We live in Spain, so we cannot go home for the holidays, and we celebrate on Saturday instead of Thursday since there are no days off of school or work. However, that makes no difference. This is a special holiday because it is not about gifts, it is not a commercial,in Spain, and it is simply an opportunity for the family to get together and be grateful for one another.
Today I did a lesson on www.teachers-for-peace.com, with a student who left Kherson, Ukrain, 2 weeks ago and is now staying in refuge gymnasium in Germany with 17 other families. Kherson had been occupied by the Russians until early last week. Now it is full of mines. Her mother, her and her brother fled just before it was liberated. Now they are looking to rebuild their lives and get throught the next few months in Germany.
Today on Thanksgiving, I did a lesson on #gratitude. I am going to share the video here. The main lessons we learned were ghratitude is cultivated and gratitude and happiness are correlated.
At the end of the lesson I asked her what she was grateful for? She said "I guess I am simply grateful for being alive and having the possibility of a future. (She is 15!)
I know that this lesson was just as important for her as it was to me.
I am glad I live in an era that is connected by internet and that the world knows, has empathy and cares what happens to our sisters and brothers across the ocians. After all it is 2022! We must come together and help each other.
It is not perfect, and bad things happen but I still believe good will outweigh bad. American Thanksgiving is being rewritten for the newer generations, like all history it was bloody and wrongly reported - but the idea of a day of grattitude. A day to celebrate, cook and eat toghether. For me is magical.
So happy thanksgiving everyone. Lets celebrate the little things. Life, Water, Light, family, food. Lets send everyone security, freedom and light. Let's not forget how lucky we are in what ever situation we are in! Being grateful makes you happy. So think. What are you grateful for this thanksgiving? Love you all!