On Thursday, millions of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving. For billions of others, it was just another Thursday.
The Thanksgiving Proclamation
One of America’s most melancholy Presidents initiated Thanksgiving by proclamation. He signed the document on October 3, 1863. The Union had won a significant victory at Gettysburg a few months earlier. Lincoln was mindful of the victory that cost more than 50,000 American lives.
“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, …to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving… And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him …, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged.”
The Benefits of Thankfulness
Anyone can give thanks, regardless of health or wealth. For more than 20 years, science has confirmed what many of our grandparents said. An optimistic and grateful outlook promotes a longer and healthier life. It costs almost nothing and can have immense, multiplying, and positive effects. According to the American Heart Association:
“Research has shown that the practice of gratitude is associated with many positive effects on a person’s physical and mental health. Expressing gratitude can improve sleep, mood, and immunity, and can decrease depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and disease.”
Thinking, saying, or doing something grateful certainly impacts the thankful one and has a good chance of positively influencing others. It’s easy, and the benefits are enormous.
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What have you been thankful for lately?
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Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”