thanksgiving – Sasha Dichter's Blog

Next week is Thanksgiving in the United States. I’ve always enjoyed the holiday since it’s focused on family and on gratitude, without a lot of gift-giving hullabaloo or commercialization (the Macy’s Day Parade notwithstanding, though that’s pretty fun too).

Generosity Day 2012 is also less than three months away, on February 14, 2012, and I know many of you are ready to roll up your sleeves and jump on the front lines to spread the word about Generosity Day.

Here’s an idea: start now.

More specifically, what better way to give thanks than by giving? What better way to show gratitude than by helping others? What better way to get ready for Generosity Day 2012 than by doing a mini-generosity experiment of your own?

Try it next week, for the week or just for one day. Consider it your Generosity Day Dry Run, so that you can speak with gusto and authenticity when the big day arrives.

Start on Monday so you can arrive at Thanksgiving Dinner with stories to share.

Imagine families coming together and swapping our personal generosity stories, which people can take away and bring home with them, planting the seed of this idea far and wide.

As a bonus to everyone else in this community, share your reflections, experiences and stories by:

– Commenting on this blog post

– Emailing generosityday [at] gmail.com

– Tweeting / sending Facebook updates using the #generosityday hashtag

We’ll share – with permission, of course – some of these stories in the lead-up to Generosity Day 2012.

And if you want to sign up to get special Generosity Day update sign up for the Generosity Day Google Group here.

To my kids for their wide-eyed, wide-grinned, bright-eyed, PJ-clad good morning smiles.

To the internet for telling me how to keep the iPhone from skipping songs when I run or walk – something that had been bugging me for ages.

To my wife for making playlists with upbeat top 40 I’d never listen to otherwise – getting me up the hill fleet-footed

To these crazy Vibram shoes for letting me run again and to Christopher McDougall for teaching me that I (and you) were born to run

To my body, and my left knee in particular, for (mostly) putting up with my crazy schemes.

To holidays that bring families together, even if it seems awkward and sometimes painful – in this day and age, if not for this, when would we reinforce these connections?

To all of you for reading and for keeping the bar high

It’s a good day to give thanks. Try it. You’ll like it.