Thanksgiving

This past year, as I graduated from college, brought forth many experiences, none more important than learning to live in a recession. As countless friends and fellow graduates have learned, life isn't easy. I too was culpable of taking a simple view of life during the boom years from '05 to '07, and did not endeavor the utmost in my studies, work or other pursuits. The aftereffects of the crash in 2008 coincided with my exiting the coccoon of college, and entering the working world and planning for a career. I realized that adaptation was necessary. Here, on Thanksgiving Day, I reflect on those lessons which involve both traditional ethics and innovative ways:

1) Industry - no ethic has been more emphasized and proved right. Hard work is necessary to accomplish one's goals in life and to live a fulfilling life, period. It is easy for this generation to lose sight of this virtue, but once we enter college and the work force, it is imperative that we remember and adopt this virtue. If not, someone else - our parents, our colleagues, or the mistress that is the economy - will.

2) Simplicity - a booming economy and consumerist culture may belie it, but simplicity should be the character of life. Simplifying one's commitments, abode, and even writing brings numerous benefits and makes everything else much easier. We need not live as hermits, but should aspire to live like them in several respects.

3) Legal Profession - one of many evolving industries, especially in the skill set and marketplace. As an aspiring lawyer, I finally took time exploring the profession, various specialties, educational preparation, and the effect of the economy. As I found, much of the popular perception is indeed myth, but a legal career still involves much commitment and many qualifications to succeed.

4) Adaptation - change is the only immutable fact (someone definitely said it before). To survive in a volatile and interdependent economy, one needs to be flexible in goals, wants and habits. To do so, I find that the laws of evolution apply well: individual variation brings beneficial fitness. Just as an organism needs differential traits to adapt to changing environments, a person needs similarly different characters to adapt to changing economic and social conditions.

I wish not to preach a gospel, but to underscore my discoveries. Thanksgiving should be about spending time with family and loved ones. Whatever your Thanksgiving religion may be - turkey, feasts, football - it is an introspective holiday and an opportunity to reflect on the past year and the aspects of our character. To do so would be thankful; to do without would be thankless.

Great, short editorial from the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/opinion/26thur1.html

Song for Thanksgiving, 'Simple Gifts' from a Shaker hymn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOYYlanm1k