Quick Things To Do To Make Thanksgiving Day Meaningful & Fun

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Say a prayer.  Return thanks to the One who created it all.

Sing your prayer. I know this sounds odd…and maybe it’s just me.  But, growing up when our extended family would gather for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we wouldn’t “say a prayer.” We would sing it…The Doxology to be exact.  It became such a substantial memory, I made sure the Doxology was sung at my wedding.

Tell stories around the table.

Tell the 1st Thanksgiving Story where the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims come together for a 3-day feast of Thanksgiving. We

Share what you’re thankful for. Take turns around the table. Don’t let conversation drift off into other things before you miss out on being vocal with your thankfulness.

Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Ride bikes. We call it a “biking adventure.”  Throw the whole family on the bikes and go for a nice, relaxed tour around the neighborhood or somewhere you’ve never been.

Watch Football.  Turn on the tube. Kick back. Fall asleep at halftime.

Play football. Just remember: you’re not as young as you used to be.

Start a tradition. Start a quirky tradition unique to your family.

Play a board game. Balderdash. Scattergories. Monopoly. Parcheesi.

Play cards. Hearts. Spades. Euchre. Rook.

Put up your Christmas tree.  Well, we already did this pre-Thanksgiving.  But, a Christmas Tree is nice to look at on Thanksgiving Day.

Take a family picture.  Your family is together.  Don’t miss that opportunity to grab a few pics as a family.

Go fo a walk at dark. Grab flashlights and go for a walk.

Sit around a fire. I live in Miami-Dade county.  Apparently, you have to have a permit to do this sort of thing. <-crazy. Call me a law breaker I guess.  But, there’s nothing more mesmerizing than sitting around a fire, staring at embers, roasting marshmallows, and being with your crew.

Stay up late…stay up until your eyes burn. Just don’t be the first person to fall asleep on the couch or you might find yourself painted up like a barn, covered in shaving cream or some similar sort of chaos.

Tips for Staving Off Muffin Tops This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is around the corner.  And, that means heavy culinary artillery…more firepower than your taste buds can resist!  So, don’t resist.  But, DO have a plan so you don’t do what most Americans do, which is an average 4,300 calories on Thanksgiving!

Let me help:

1. Drink water.  Ditch the sweet tea and sugary drinks.  Water fills you up and keeps you hydrated.  Plus, cold water actually incinerates calories as your body works overtime to warm itself.

2. Pile on the legit vegetables. That doesn’t mean friend green bean casserole or candied yams!  Good vegetables are low in calories and filling.  Eat them first so you don’t stuff yourself on the buttery, fat, and carbohydrate-icized goodness!

3. Aim for the lean meats. Instead of slamming the honey baked ham, eat the Turkey breast (skinless).  It’s really hard to go overboard on lean turkey meat.  It’s low cal and high protein.  That means it’s filling and better for muscle repair than Popeye’s spinach (who said spinach gives you good muscles?!  crackheads…don’t think it’s true!

4. When it comes to the naughty stuff, think portion control.  By all means, try the sweet potato casserole.  But, if it’s Paula Dean inspired creator used a few sticks of butter in it’s making, keep the portion small.

5. Enjoy your family.  Take your face out of your plate and talk.  Thanksgiving is a perfect time to talk, tell stories, and enjoy family.  The more laughing and talking you do, the less damage you’re going to do with your fork!  So, laugh a little!

6. Take a pre-emptive strike by a little Pre-thanksgiving meal exercise assault.  The truth is, I’m not going to be a calorie hawk on Thanksgiving (but, I will track what I eat).  I generally eat about 2,100 calories per day.  Thanksgiving, I will up my caloric intake.  But, I’m rolling out early for a 25-30 mile bike ride.  I love cycling.  I love eating.  On thanksgiving, I’ll burn 2,000 calories before the main event.  In essence, you could say, I’m going to ride to eat…a sneak assault, a pre-emptive strike on the Thanksgiving Smorgasbord!

And, that’s it!  If you can’t pull that off, break out a pair of stretchy pants and a bib and go for it!

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

Teaching Your Kids to Do Big Things

Everything that your children do that they haven’t done before is potentially a BIG thing.  Uncharted territory. New. A big deal.

Swimming. Riding a bike. Jumping off a high dive.  These are big things.

We ought to teach and lead our kids to attempt Big things.  Watching my 4 year old daughter jump from the 5 meter platform for the first time was exhilarating for me…and for her.  We got her ready together.  And, when she jumped, she was that much closer to realizing she can do whatever she puts her mind to.

The latest Big thing for us are bikes.  We’re all mobile.  The week Blake turned 4, we took off his training wheels.  He’s rocking his bike.  Now, we do biking adventures on Saturdays.  Riding my cyclocross bike with my 8-year old daughter on the mountain bike trails on Virginia Key was killer for me!

Every step. Every big step is another arrow in my kids’ arsenals.  My job is to stock their arsenal so they are prepared to take life by the horns.  So, here are some things I do to help my kids do BIG things:

1. Never tell myself they are going to like something new they’re going to try.  Default to the positive.  Expect them always to want to try the new challenge.  That means holstering your own biases so you don’t negatively influence them or pass on your own fears to them.

2. Expect them to pull it off.  If you set your expectations low, they sink to meet them.

3. When they fail, acknowledge their stumbling.  But, get them back in the saddle quickly.

4. Make the adventure an adventure.  If you’re about to do something BIG, pump it up.  Hype it up.  Get everyone ready to celebrate.  And, have a blast.  The mundane is rarely worth conquering.

5. Don’t sell them short.  Your kids can do more, go farther, perform better, and rise to the occasion with a greater capacity than you’re able to understand.

6. Don’t manage the detail. Show them the way. Let them get the details worked out on their own.  If you’re obsessing on the detail on the way to pulling off the BIG thing for the first time, you’ll complicate the thing out of the realm of possibility…or out of interest.

7. Know that if you adventure your kids, they’ll develop a taste for conquering BIG things.  It will translate into a life practice.  Start early.  And, never stop.

The Pack and The Pace Setter

Bill Isaacs, in the Forward Leadership Blog wrote a great piece, “Leaders, Listen up.”  In the entry, he makes a phenomenal point, “The banana that leaves the bunch is the first one peeled.”  Great insight.

CYCLING

I love cycling. And, I couldn’t help relating Bill’s statement to what it takes to break from the pack to win the Tour de France.  Now, I’ve never ridden the Tour.  But, I do have 3,000 miles cycling under my belt this past year. And, I know what it feels like to ride alone and in the pack…it can be withering or it can be easy…depending on how you ride it.

ON THE PELOTON

While cycling in a peloton, you can actually ride on average 10+ mph faster than you can by yourself. Every stage of the Tour de France’s 21 stages and on multiple occasions, cyclists try to break from the pack/peloton. They may be out ahead for the whole day. But, they almost always get swallowed up by the peloton within a few miles of the finish line.

RIDING SOLO

Alone, there are just too many factors working against you when you’re going solo: wind, discouragement, no rest, you’re the only pacemaker, etc… The result is that most stages are decided by a sprint in the last half mile. Still the sprinters are set up by their team mates who sling shot them across the last few hundred feet of the finish line. Crazy!

THE TIME TO MAKE A BREAK FOR IT AND GO SOLO

However, the place that the lone banana can break free is up a mountain. There is no benefit and almost all hazard to gain by staying in the peloton going up a steep mountain.

This is where the guys like Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, and Andy Schleck distinguish themselves. Going into the Pyrenees Mountains, these guys get up and out of their saddles and huff it up the mountain like warriors. These are the guys that finish well beyond the pack…sipping lemonade while everyone else is still out working up the mountain.

KNOW WHO CAN MAKE THE JUMP AND GO WITH THEM

When one of these guys make their break, you either jump out with them and battle. Or, you slink back into the pack and pace your way up the mountain.

PREMEDITATED REVOLT FROM THE PACK

Breaking from the pack happens strategically. It isn’t accidental. It isn’t easy. It changes the pace of everyone else. You need both. But, all of the roles working together makes the Tour a beautiful and challenging thing. Even the guys who break from the pack and don’t make it alter the speed of the pack.

FALLING OFF THE BACK OF THE PACK IS A TERRIBLE THING

The sad thing is when guys fall off the back of the pack. When that happens, they only ever rejoin the pack the next day. And, the remainder of their 100-150 miles of that day is a rough, lonely slog…if they even finish at all.

Faith Says, “We Choose The Fire over The Compromise.”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” DANIEL 3:16-18