Finding Light Around the Table: A Different Approach to Thanksgiving This Year

It's been a hard year in many ways. As we prepare to gather around tables filled with familiar dishes and familiar faces, we each have an opportunity to ensure that everyone present feels connected, welcomed, respected, and safe, regardless of differing experiences, opinions, and perspectives. We can choose unity over uniformity.

I personally don't know anyone who hasn't been affected by divisiveness. Whether it is a deeply personal level within our closest relationships, or at a collective level relative to where we stand politically, religiously or ideologically, we've all felt it.

Thanksgiving offers us a moment to pause and redirect our attention. A moment to choose differently. We can consciously choose to set aside the narratives that divide us and instead focus on the simple, profound gifts before us: the sound of familiar laughter, the taste of our favorite foods, the comfort of belonging.

This isn't about ignoring our differences, avoiding important conversations, or marginalizing our feelings about topics that reverberate within us at the deepest levels. Rather, it's about creating space for something equally vital – the nurturing of our connections, the honoring of love and of lives unfolding together, the celebration of our shared humanity, and the recognition of the blessings that surround us, even in challenging times.

As you approach your Thanksgiving gathering this year, consider bringing three guests with you: curiosity, compassion, and consciousness.

• Let curiosity lead you to ask about a loved one's recent joy or challenge.
• Let compassion guide you to listen with an open heart, even to those whose views differ from your own.
• And let consciousness remind you that each moment around that table is a choice – a choice to focus on what brings us together rather than what pulls us apart.

Remember, you have the power to set the tone.

You can choose to be the one who asks about a niece's new adventure, who shares a memory that makes everyone laugh, who expresses genuine gratitude for the simple gift of being together. These small acts of connection ripple outward, creating spaces where love and understanding can flourish.

This Thanksgiving, let's make a conscious choice to gather in the spirit of gratitude and unity.

When we focus on the love that brings us to the same table, we often find that what binds us together is far stronger than what drives us apart.

Sending love and light to all of you, along with wishes for a joyful holiday.

About the Author

Marissa is a 5x, 30-year entrepreneur, speaker, best-selling author, mindset expert, and globally recognized growth & spiritual strategist. She was one of Inc. Magazine's most read leadership columnists, and was recognized as one of the Top 200 Biggest Voices of Leadership globally for 2023.

Following the sale of her company Successful Culture International, Marissa launched Marissa International, a global speaking, training, and coaching organization to help leaders live their most joyful lives and build their best companies. Marissa is passionate about educating and empowering leaders, teams, organizations, and communities. Reach out if you believe your people, members, and communities would benefit from guidance and wisdom to live a more empowered, conscious, and joyful life.

She is also CEO and co-founder of i5 Conscious Leadership, a leadership education, coaching, and consulting firm. Through a robust leadership curriculum that educates leaders at all levels, i5 Conscious Leadership bridges self-consciousness and organizational consciousness for leaders that are committed to creating exceptional employee engagement and business growth. i5 serves the federal, commercial, and nonprofit sectors.