Each passing year, the Christmas holiday season comes sooner and sooner, wooing us with its winter wonderland and pine-scented magnificence. As soon as spooky season passes on through, Christmas comes right along and in full swing. On the first day of November, I walked into Walmart, and lo and behold, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was blaring on the speakers.

Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person, don’t get me wrong. But I’m also a big fan of Thanksgiving and I don’t think it should be so easily overlooked. We get so excited about Christmas that Thanksgiving has been put on the back burner, and it’s beginning to lose its precedence. This holiday has suffered a lack of celebration due to society’s rush to dive into Christmas. So pause for just a moment out of respect for one of our greatest holidays: Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving deserves to be celebrated in all of its turkey-encompassed glory. Giving thanks, and everything else the holiday stands for, helps us to recognize and be thankful for all of the good in our lives. Thanksgiving embodies family, comfort and fullness. (pun intended) So many students skip out on Thanksgiving because they no longer realize the importance of it. They stay on campus, waiting for Saturday’s football game and spending what should be a family-filled day in their empty apartments. In doing this, we lose a sense of what it means to be thankful and what it means to spend time with family.

So often we forget how special and important spending time with our family is. While we are growing old, so are our parents, and so are our grandparents. Do not miss out on a single moment with them. Do not waste an opportunity to gather around, laughing and making memories with the people whom love you the most.

A bond with your family is one of the most treasured bonds we will have in our lifetimes. Family members love and care for you beyond anything you can truly comprehend, and this day should be one to celebrate the joy that bond brings.

Thanksgiving is a season of joy and gladness and it prepares our hearts for the upcoming holiday season. Before we can receive gifts, we must be reminded of the gifts we already have. We must be reminded of the joy in the life that we live and what a blessing it is. So often we tend to view the world in such a negative light, always whining and complaining about what we don’t have or about all the wrong in the world. Thanksgiving embodies a sense of warmth and hope, spreading a sense of reflection on all of the good in our lives. Without indulging in the truth of what a blessed, beautiful life we live, we will so easily forget to celebrate that beauty.

This holiday season, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to remember the importance of celebrating Thanksgiving and to cherish the time you have with your family. Go home and spend the weekend with your loved ones. I want you to save Christmas for December and embrace the grateful spirit of the Thanksgiving season.

Thanksgiving is more than just a day when you stuff your bellies and watch some rivalry football. It is a day of joy and love – a day where we should take the opportunity to deepen the relationships with those who love and care for us. So push back the Christmas music and submerge yourself into Thanksgiving and all it has to offer.