It's More About the Giving

Tomorrow, as we sit at dinner tables across the nation, break bread with our kin and reap the delectable benefits of this year's sumptuous harvest, we will give thanks for a year that has been so kind to so many. We will thank our mentors for guidance, our teachers for wisdom, our friends for loyalty and our parents for support. We will reflect on all we have to be grateful for, and we will think that by expressing our gratitude we will absolve ourselves of our Thanksgiving duty.

In this last respect, we will be wrong.

Thanksgiving should remind us not just to thank, not just to express our most humble gratitude and then return to the rote and rhythm of our everyday lives. Instead, Thanksgiving should remind us to act. It should remind us that we owe thanks not only for the good will and fortune that have befallen us, but also, and more importantly, for the good deeds which others have blessed us with, for the selfless acts of kindness and love they have deliberately employed to enrich our lives. As such, Thanksgiving should compel us to reciprocate that selflessness, not only tomorrow, but every day of the year.

Therefore, this Thanksgiving each person, each one of us, should do more than give thanks. Each person should give of herself so that all others might also have something to be grateful for.

This Thanksgiving and in the days that follow,

Tell someone you believe in them.

Tell someone you love them.

Tell someone you're sorry.

Tell someone you care.

Hold open a door.

Hold out your hand.

Hold true to your promises.

Hold your expectations high.

Return a favor.

Return what you've borrowed.

Return a phone call.

Return to your roots.

Be patient.

Make a memory.

Make a milestone.

Make an effort to relate.

Make your roommate's bed, just because.

Make someone's day.

Forgive those who wronged you.

Shake someone's hand.

Shake someone's assumptions.

Shake up the complacency that you see.

Stop checking your watch.

Stop making excuses.

Stop putting off the day you'll incite change.

Remember a birthday.

Remember an anniversary.

Remember a name.

Remind those who forgot.

Smile at a stranger.

Laugh with people, but not at them.

Laugh at someone's jokes, even if they aren't funny.

Read to a child.

Write to a relative.

Add up the ways you can make a difference.

For once, don't ask for thank yous.

Don't ask for acclaim.

Don't ask for credit, even when it's due.

Listen.

Sacrifice a grade.

Sacrifice an appointment.

Sacrifice money, because someone needs your help.

Foster creativity.

Foster commitment.

Foster community.

Foster trust.

Invite the loner to your party.

Invite your enemy out to lunch.

Invite others into your life.

Go out of your way to do a favor.

Invest in someone else's future.

Invest in someone else's dreams.

Invest in a long shot, when no one else will.

Praise the accomplishments of others.

Introduce yourself to the new kid.

Lend a classmate a pen.

Lend a shoulder to cry on.

Lend your support.

Lend a helping hand.

Be a mentor.

Cheer up the saddened.

Cheer up the lonely.

Cheer for the home team, even if they lose.

Visit the sick.

Visit the elderly.

Visit the place where you grew up, and make it better.

Don't rhetoricize, act.

Ask those in need what you can offer.

Ask what makes those around you tick.

Ask yourself if you are giving to your full capability.

Share your wisdom.

Share your inspirations.

Share your hopes.

Share your dreams.

Stand up for your family.

Stand up for your friends.

Stand up for the underdog.

Stand up for your ideals.

Volunteer.

Combat injustice.

Combat poverty.

Combat crime.

Combat hate.

Teach a toddler to tie his shoes.

Plant a flower.

Plant a tree.

Plant a garden.

Plant hope in those with little faith.

Be flexible.

Give food to the hungry.

Give clothes to the naked.

Give money to the poor.

This Thanksgiving give thanks, but more importantly give of yourself.

Lauren E. Baer '02 is a social studies concentrator in Dunster House. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays.