On Thanksgiving we celebrate the feast that the Plymouth colony had with the Wampanoag tribe that lived in the area. The story goes that the native Americans heard gunshots of celebration. They thought the gunshots were signs of trouble.
When they arrived they found the colonists celebrating. The Wampanoag killed five deer to bring to the feast. The Puritans gave thanks to their God. The Wampanoag were used to giving thanks for all things including meals.
Today we usually celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. However, it appears that some individuals have let other things get in the way. There are many online entries talking about people who are not inviting relatives to their celebration because of the way they voted in the November 5 election.
This is a short-sighted approach. We all have to deal with mental health issues on an ongoing basis. Setting up a situation that is bad for your mental health and those that you know makes little sense.
I often talk about the reaction to loss. It involves denial, anger, bargaining, mourning and acceptance. There are clearly many people who have not gotten beyond the anger portion of the results. That is unhealthy for them. They need to move on.
Compounding that by taking it out on others is not healthy. That is true regardless of who you voted for. The results of the election are not going to change if you choose to punish others. What it will do is punish you by costing you a relationship over something that is over and done.
We see that same kind of behavior in sporting events. Occurrences at soccer stadiums worldwide are not unusual. Violence related to anger at other sporting results also occurs. None of that behavior changes the results. All it does is cause unnecessary mental distress.
The grieving process needs to occur quickly. An event that happens on November 5 that is still being grieved on November 28 is not healthy.
Some individuals have even canceled Christmas plans. An event that happens on November 5 that is still being grieved on December 25 is less healthy. That is especially true if you are celebrating “Peace on Earth. Good Will to Men.”
Your friends and family will be with you long after the events in the political world are gone and forgotten. That will only be the case if you do not screw it up in the interim.
The Wampanoag mistook celebration for anger. We need to understand that paying attention to the wrong things is only going to impact our own well being.