Thanksgiving 2023

Yeah, it's time for a virtual campfire sit down with Terry Weiss. Welcome to weiss b Hey, everybody, welcome to the podcast. Welcome to Wie's Thoughts. I am Terry Weiss, and I am so glad that you are joining us for today's episode of Wis's Thoughts. Before we get underway with all the fun and festivities, just want to quickly remind you out there. Weiss'sthoughts dot Com is the podcast website Wyce Weiss Thoughts dot com where you can go to listen to each and every episode of this podcast. Check out the YouTube channel. You can comment on every show as well, and check that out. All that and so much more waiting for you at weissthoughts dot com. If you wanna tweet at me, I used to say, tweet at me on Twitter. I still I'm sorry. I can't get that out of my head. But if you want to contact me now on x formerly known as Twitter, it's at Terry Weiss. I am also on Facebook, It's Facebook dot com backslash Wis's Thoughts or Facebook dot combackslash Terry Weiss. And I'm also on YouTube. We got a couple channels there. Just look for Terry Weiss on YouTube or Wis's Thoughts in your YouTube search and you shall find us me all right, and I also do voiceover work, audiobook narration, e learning videos, podcast production, all kinds of stuff. Just go to my website Terryweiss dot com. Contact info is there as well as audio samples for your listening pleasure. All right, yay, we are in the throes of Thanksgiving week, and with that in mind, let's get to It's that time again. It's time for the wordsmith word all the episode. Ah, that's right, thank you, mister announcer extraordinaire. And yes, today's wordsmith word for the episode. Since it is Thanksgiving week and many people will be traveling, what is today's word sojourn? Ah say that one more time for us. Sojourn sojourn spelled sooj Oh you are n It is a noun. It means a temporary stay, or if you're going to use it in the verb sense, it is stay somewhere temporarily. And hey, what better word for the wordsmith word of the episode this week? Because it is Thanksgiving, everyone's traveling, so you could say will soldier well, so soldiered? God heavy again? With the pronunciation sojourn, there we go sojourn, will sojourn to Grandma's house for the holiday so we can enjoy Thanksgiving with her. Or do you want a sojourn in a hotel? Or do you want to find a house we can rent for the summer. So there's your wordsmith word of the episode, sojourn spelled so j ou r n. So now you can go show everybody your big brain and your wordsmith skills. How's that all right? So, being as it is the Thanksgiving week here in the United States of America, and for those of you that don't listen, that listen outside the USA, and some of you do, Thanksgiving is a holiday here in the United States of America that is celebrated by us here. And what happens is we give thanks to when the pilgrims came over from Europe and we're settling down here in this great land of ours, and they were about to suffer a pretty harsh winter. They were having trouble growing crops and such. And the Indians or indigenous people, I guess if you want to call them that, you know, whichever whichever vernacular you prefer, kind of made friends with the pilgrims and such, and showed them the good things about maize which is corn, and other ways to enhance crops so they wouldn't starve to death. So if it wasn't for them, I think the Pilgrims might not have made it. So we give thanks for that. That's the old school tradition way. When I was brought up, we were taught about thanksgiving. Now nowadays, in today's modern world, the meetings kind of changed a little bit. More of us tend to want to think about, you know, our families, our loved ones and friends. And I kind of ascribe to that as well, where you sit around and you think about things that you're thankful for, you know, whether it be your health, if you've got a new job, you know, celebrating the birth of a child, what have you, an accomplishment. But it's again, it's celebrated again at various dates in the Northeast, but in the United States. It's coming up here this Thursday, and we're going to release the podcast a day early this week. Typically, you know here at Weiss Thoughts, I typically released the podcast for you all on Thursday mornings. However, it's going to go out here Wednesday afternoon because you know, no one's going to be around in the studio this Thursday, because I'm going to be preparing to stuff my face with Thanksgiving. Now, the typical Thanksgiving harvest or meal here in the United States is typically centered around turkey. Okay, now the turkey. You've got mashed potatoes, You've got sweet potatoes. You've got things like pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving, which you know, as I sitting here in the studio recording today for you, it reminds me, I gotta go get a pumpkin pie and some cool whip or whipped cream or something for it. I forgot to pick up the pumpkin pie. Oh, missus. W is not good looking food. So it's served on and around Thanksgiving in North America. Pumpkin pie is a typical dessert. You've got cranberry sauce. Now there's a big debate, there's a hotly contested debate here in the United States with cranberry sauce. Do you get the jellied kind in the can or do you get traditional cranberry sauce from cranberries. Now here's Terry's choice, my choice. I prefer believe it or not the jellied kind you get out of a can. I know you're saying, what do you nut? But I do? I don't know why. It's just a appeals to me. Now I can stomach the other. That's fine. I can have it. You know, no big deal. It ain't gonna ruin my holiday if I have to eat traditional cranberry sauce. That being said, though, however, I prefer the jelly kind. I don't know what about you. Do you prefer the jellied kind or do you like traditional cranberry sauce? Put it in the comments below the show notes for this Thanksgiving special episode of Whyfe's Thoughts and who knows? You know, who knows what that pole will will reveal? But again getting back into Thanksgiving here, I'm sorry. I was having a I was glancing at something. A lot of people and myself included. I tend to use it as a time of introspective reflection, all right, introspective reflection in other words, looking in and having an attitude of gratitude. And I think and I feel that in today's society, society, maybe a lot of us lose sight of things that we should be thankful for. I mean, let's face it, folks, some factions of our United States population. I'm sure it's that way in your country as well, but some factions of the United States population are just spoiled brats or entitled spoiled brats. Some would say, but and I can. And again, I'm not here to chastise you or verbally reprimand you mind you. But the I'm saying that under the auspices of being transparent because I've fallen into that very toxic way of thinking myself. I've had it happen to me. I've fallen under that toxic way of thinking where you know, it's just like I'm entitled to it. This should happen for me, or that should happen for me because I'm entitled. And you know, the world it doesn't work that way. It doesn't. Sorry, just in the microphone here a little bit, the world doesn't quite work that way, especially in today's modern society. You know, it's just not gonna get you know, your road is not going to open up. So I think Thanksgiving is a great time to have an attitude of gratitude and really focus on what you're thankful for and count you know, there's an all the adage as well, count your blessings, and I can get lost in the muck and the mire and all the proverbial hooplaws they say. And it's easy. It's easy because we're doing so much nowadays, aren't we. We are running around doing so much. We're multitasking. Multitasking maniacs, is what I like to say every once in a while. So yeah, we're multitasking maniacs. And there's you know, I mean, we got five hundred channels of this, three hundred audio channels of that, you got the Internet, you got social media, You've got family obligations, you got so much going on that it's easy to really lose sight of the primary important things that life in life, that really matter. It really is. I found myself doing it many a times, many a times, and it's not hard to do it really isn't. And all I would implore upon you this this holiday season as we get ready for the holidays, because you will hear a lot of people say, oh, the silly season has started. It's the silly season where it's the crazy time of year, all right, you can classify it as that. However, however, I digress and I would offer up this. It's also a time for, as the young'ins say nowadays, to check yourself. What are you really focusing on in your life? Who are you really focusing on in your life? And what can you do to maybe adjust your course, adjust your mindset, adjust your attitude to be a better you and to have a better life experience. That's one thing I would just throw out there at you and say, what you know, think on it. I'm not saying sit in the corner and meditate for sixteen hours. No, no, no, no no, However, give it some thought. You know. Hey, you know, maybe I've kind of been terse and short with people lately because I'm under the gun with deadlines at work or on a project i'm working on, or maybe I'm not getting enough rest. Maybe I'm not taking care of me and I'm not being as and respectful as I can be to others. You see where I'm going with this. Yeah, there you go. So that's just, you know, just a little food for thought on this Thanksgiving holiday, just to kind of give you a little nudge in the right direction. And again, I am not coming from a place of looking on high down at you and saying, Ah, the all knowing wise is offering you prophetic wisdom. I am just right in this with you. And when I used to think about stuff, I think, hmm, that might be interesting to share on the podcast with everyone. And then, of course the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday here in the United States, the shopping mania day, which there's a lot of controversy around that, and you know where people eat their meal. For a while, I think it was getting a little out of hand. I mean, in the younger years, missus w here the wife. She would we would have Thanksgiving and then clean up. She would lay down and take a nap for about an hour or two, and then off she would go, running off shopping at ten eleven o'clock at night, and I wouldn't see her until like three or four the following afternoon. I mean, she made a day of it with our kids at the time that had moved out. They would meet at certain stores and stand in line and this and that, and they saw, they saw they had seen some crazy I could regale you some really crazy tales over you know, over the past ten or fifteen years of things they had witnessed. None they were involved in mind you. Thankfully none they were involved in, but some of the crazy things they had witnessed where people just went retail insane, trying to get that bargain DVD player back in the day, remember DVD players, everybody remember those, or you know, trying to get that bargain television or that you know, coupon code for a crazy amount off of clothes or appliance, what have you. And I implore you on this on Thanksgiving as well, besides thinking about yourself and the world around you and your own mental health, do you think maybe the holidays are a little too commercialized, a little too commercial driven, retail driven. I do, and and me and the wife have actually been pulling back over the last decade, just pulling back every year. Nothing drastic and change you know where we are. We're not buying Christmas presents or anybody this year. We're not getting No, we didn't do anything crazy like that, and we haven't. However, what we have been doing over the past decade is just pulling back a little each year, and so it you know, it doesn't sting as much or seem you know, it's, oh my god, you're not doing it. And I'm celebrating when you're screwge No, and it wasn't. And it's not for a lack of finances or anything like that, because that isn't the case at all. What it is is it's just that everything we're bombarded here in the United States commercials, commercials, commercials, commercials. Now, I make part of my living doing commercials and voiceover for certain you know, entities and products. I'm I'm, I get it. That's how I make part of my living. However, there has to be a balance, a ying and a yang, you know, and up and a down. And with that in mind, when you start seeing commercials for Christmas around Halloween, which I did this year, I'm raising yes, raise your hand if you have, because I have. This year on Halloween was it was probably going on the past couple of years, so I've been told by people I've had conversations with, because when I brought it up, I was like, I saw a commercial literally two days before Halloween for Christmas stuff starting. I don't know what company it was for. It was one of the big box retailers, it really was. I don't want to say their name without you know, some degree of certainty, but it was one of the big box retailers that a lot of people go to their stores and buy various things. They are a big box department store, so use your imagination. And they were running Christmas ads in October. Now now, mind you, not every time. Just there was a little smattering there, just like a little you know, like if you're flicking some water off your hand. Just here and there there was a little smattering of of Christmas ads. And I found it honestly repulsive. Let's have the seasons complete, shall we let them do what they're supposed to do. Let's enjoy a season before we move on to the next. That's just me. I'm old school that way. That's the way I think. But I digress. So, you know, Thanksgiving again in the United States of America, Thanksgiving twenty twenty three. As you're listening to this, and like I said, this will be released the day before Thanksgiving in the afternoon, you may be listening to it on Thanksgiving way you're waiting for your turkey or your pumpkin pie to be served, or the day after Thanksgiving while you're running around doing your shopping. And that all I would employ upon you is just to remember these holidays come, and they're not just a day off from work. The kids get a day off from school. You know, it's a chance to veg in front of the TV, you know, binge watching your favorite show or your favorite sporting event, or what have you. What I would employ you with Thanksgiving is reconnect with your circle of loved ones, family, friends. What have you maybe think about your priorities? You know, check your list on your priorities? Am I moving forward in a direction that not only obviously would benefit myself directly, but others around me? Am I sacrificing relationships and family for a job that maybe doesn't appreciate me. Am I in a career that I'm just doing because I have to pay the bills and I'm really not fulfilled and it's causing me emotional and physical distress. Or Am I satisfied where I'm at? Do I want more? Do I want to move forward in that career? Do I want to start a business? Do I want to write that book? Do I want to write that song? Do I want to learn that instrument? Do I want to reconnect with that lost relative or friend that I really haven't spoken to in a while? Do I want to reconnect with my children, my wife, my lover, my boyfriend, my girlfriend. What have you just That's what I would implore you to really give some give it some due course on this Thanksgiving as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States of America twenty twenty three. Hey, thanks for listening to the program today. I truly appreciate each and every one of you out there, and remember to see a change in the world, you have to be the change in the world you want to see. It all starts with you, the person looking back at you in the mirror every morning. Remember to be kind to yourself, be kind to others. If you want to tweet at me on Twitter, it's at Terry Weiss. Stop by the website Wis's Thoughts dot com just to make sure you spell my name right. Wysee Wiss Thoughts dot com, and hey, leave us a positive rating and review on your favorite podcast provider. Won't you tell your friends, tell your family, tell your pets about White's Thoughts and I look forward to gathering yet again around the virtual campfire with you real soon. Take care