Thanksgiving calls to my mind childhood celebrations at my grandparents’ home with my extended family— grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. I can still remember the overwhelming smell of food cooking when I entered the house. There was laughter and love.

And our American holiday myth celebrates an idyllic moment when Native Americans and European pilgrims joined together in mutual respect and helpfulness. Even if the fabled story of the first Thanksgiving isn’t entirely true, it still honors our national ideal that people of different races and religions can form one people.

The holiday reminds us to be grateful. It is all too easy to be resentful of what is not right in one’s life and to forget all that is good. Visit a hospital or nursing home and meet people who have bad health and then give thanks for your own health. Sit with people who are lonely or in grief and be grateful for the people who love you and make your life happy.

The opposite of thankfulness is self pity. It is a temptation to compare yourself with others and be upset that someone else has more than you do. Or you can think about all the hard work you do and be resentful that others do less or that you don’t get proper recognition for all your work and effort.

God has given each of us many blessings. We should be happy to have the opportunity to serve and to have the health and stability to be able to help others. When we find ourselves slipping into self pity, it is time to stop and realign our thinking.