November is a month when two major holidays take place — Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Yet, they are hardly recognized or noticed in today’s culture due to an obsession with “great deals” heading up the Christmas season.

While people like to be prepared in buying gifts for December celebrations, they need to take a step back and realize what each holiday means, and adjust their mindsets this time of year.

This is not the time to plan what time to leave on Thanksgiving Day to beat the crowd to the early-bird sales. It is an opportunity to spend time with loved ones and remember how lucky we truly are.

All over the world, and in many places in the United States, people are suffering — sleeping in boxes on the side of the road or wearing shoes with holes in them because they cannot afford anything more.

This is not a guilt trip. It is a reminder.

We should look up to the ceiling of our homes and be thankful for a roof over our heads. We should take a gander at our closets and realize we are privileged to be able to have jobs where we can afford suitable clothing. We should scroll through our phone contacts and think of how wonderful it is to have so many friends and family members we can rely on in hard times.

We should simply be thankful.

We should not be aggravated because we have to spend time with family or upset that someone got the last high-definition big screen before we could snag it.

We should be delighted that we have family alive to see and actually be able to visit.

Our society sees the word “thanks” in Thanksgiving and, yet, we still have a hard time grasping what the holiday means. We need to chill out and remember why most businesses give their workers this day off — for free time to celebrate thankfulness with family.

So, this Thanksgiving, let’s actually sit for a while with our loved ones and reminiscence on all of the memories we have together.

Let’s relax indoors or spend time working on a hobby that brings us joy and remember that we are thankful for the time off to be able to do the things we love.

Let’s just try being thankful.

HANNAH DAVIS is sports editor of The Farmville Herald. She is also editor of The Charlotte Gazette and The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch. Her email address is hannah.davis@farmvilleherald.com.