{"id":1052,"date":"2015-11-26T23:04:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T20:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/?p=1052"},"modified":"2016-03-28T10:26:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T07:26:00","slug":"thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving or giving thanks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada.\u00a0It is the day of the year\u00a0of giving thanks for the blessing and the harvest of the previous year. The tradition\u00a0includes a large meal, in which the star is a roasted turkey.<\/p>\n

The first Thanksgiving dinner was held in 1621 by Pilgrims and lasted 3 days (!) but it didn’t become a national holiday until 300 years later, in 1941. It is believed that there were no turkeys for dinner back in 1621. Still, the turkey is\u00a0the traditional Thanksgiving dish, given the fact that it was\u00a0one of the first animals to be domesticated in the USA.<\/p>\n

American or not, another year has almost passed and this would be a good time to think about all the things we are really thankful this year, in this life. Day-by-day we’re busy complaining, focusing on what we don’t have, because it’s easier this way. So, sometimes, it is important taking\u00a0the time to remember the things we are thankful for and that every so often, we take for granted.<\/p>\n

After giving it some thought, replaying one of the most challenging years of my life –\u00a0if not, the most! – this is my personal list here:<\/p>\n

People<\/strong> – generally speaking. I like the fact that I’ve met and will meet enough people in this life, to have things to learn from them. People who inspire me to be better or, on the contrary, people who make me say – ‘I don’t ever wanna be like that!’. People whom I admire and will follow, and people whom I know my life would be better without.<\/p>\n

Life<\/strong> – ’cause when you try and think about it, life is pretty amazing. You just need to know what to do with it and how to create it. And this year made me realize that I’m just starting creating my life, building opportunities and taking chances.<\/p>\n

Love\u00a0<\/b>– it makes the world go round. It’s happiness, power, beauty, kindness, support, honesty, trust, communication, understanding, peace, acceptance, respect, patience – okay, stop me now.<\/p>\n

Good Friends<\/strong> – you know, the people you feel. Some people you see, some you hear, but only few you will feel. Those are your friends. And no other words could describe this feeling.<\/p>\n

Physical activity<\/strong> – dancing, fitness, yoga. Whatever makes me move, lifts my spirit, gives me energy, puts me in the right mood\u00a0and reminds me that I look better fit \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Pets<\/strong> – and even better, if you don’t own one – friends with pets! 2 in 1, big win!<\/p>\n

Challenges<\/strong> – they serve a purpose. They make you the person you are now. How you overcome them it’s your choice, in your hands, your control.<\/p>\n

Pain<\/strong> – without it, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the good times. Like – when your tooth hurts. You become thankful for all the times you\u00a0had a good time, even if you had other dental problems.<\/p>\n

Control<\/strong> – over your actions, your attitude. Yes, that is the only thing you can really have control over. You won’t be able to decide how people treat you, how long you will have a job or a car. But the thing that you can master is how you react to everything that comes your way, in this life.<\/p>\n

Loss of control<\/strong> – imagine if all the issues were in your hands to handle them?! That’s one hell of a complicated life! It may be hard, but try and see the good in it. Enjoy every moment you lack control, it’s yours to feel free!<\/p>\n

Money<\/strong> – yes, the last one. It makes many things possible in this world, because I like to be also practical about life. It\u00a0can be your friend or your enemy – your choice, you control it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How’bout you? What have you got to be thankful for in this life? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"anamariapopa.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada.\u00a0It is the day of the year\u00a0of giving thanks for the blessing and the harvest of… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Happy #Thanksgiving to all my American friends!\r\nAnd to those who are not American, well, Happy Thursday and let's find some reasons to be thankful for!\r\n#ampblog","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1171],"tags":[855,857,859,861,863,865,867,869,871,873,875,877,879,881,883,885,887],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ro_RO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada.\u00a0It is the day of the year\u00a0of giving thanks for the blessing and the harvest of… Continue Reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ana Maria Popa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"luflee16\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-26T20:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-28T07:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/anamariapopa.com-blog-post-atra-doftana-valea-doftanei-romania-relax-nature-photo-cristian-sutu-foto-union.jpg?fit=1500%2C1002&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1002\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ana Maria Popa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@luflee16\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Scris de\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ana Maria Popa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Timp estimat pentru citire\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/\",\"name\":\"Thanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-26T20:04:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-28T07:26:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fc37aa10458fb68135b7162e5ea6ad9\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ro-RO\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/\",\"name\":\"Ana Maria Popa\",\"description\":\"Smile for Today :)\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"ro-RO\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fc37aa10458fb68135b7162e5ea6ad9\",\"name\":\"Ana Maria Popa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ro-RO\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a3135dccf4bc1849d27f3e8ace5a6a9?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a3135dccf4bc1849d27f3e8ace5a6a9?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ana Maria Popa\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/\",\"luflee16\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/luflee16\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/author\/luflee16\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/","og_locale":"ro_RO","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa","og_description":"Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, in the USA and on the second Monday of October in Canada.\u00a0It is the day of the year\u00a0of giving thanks for the blessing and the harvest of… Continue Reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/","og_site_name":"Ana Maria Popa","article_author":"luflee16","article_published_time":"2015-11-26T20:04:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-28T07:26:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1002,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/anamariapopa.com-blog-post-atra-doftana-valea-doftanei-romania-relax-nature-photo-cristian-sutu-foto-union.jpg?fit=1500%2C1002&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ana Maria Popa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@luflee16","twitter_misc":{"Scris de":"Ana Maria Popa","Timp estimat pentru citire":"3 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/","url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/","name":"Thanksgiving or giving thanks? - Ana Maria Popa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-26T20:04:51+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-28T07:26:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fc37aa10458fb68135b7162e5ea6ad9"},"inLanguage":"ro-RO","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/thanksgiving-or-giving-thanks\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/","name":"Ana Maria Popa","description":"Smile for Today :)","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"ro-RO"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1fc37aa10458fb68135b7162e5ea6ad9","name":"Ana Maria Popa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ro-RO","@id":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a3135dccf4bc1849d27f3e8ace5a6a9?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9a3135dccf4bc1849d27f3e8ace5a6a9?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"Ana Maria Popa"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/","luflee16","https:\/\/twitter.com\/luflee16"],"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/author\/luflee16\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/anamariapopa.com-blog-post-atra-doftana-valea-doftanei-romania-relax-nature-photo-cristian-sutu-foto-union.jpg?fit=1500%2C1002&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p57Lxo-gY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":876,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/being-turkish\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":0},"title":"Being Turkish","date":"septembrie 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"'I wanna go back' - the first words that came out of my mouth as soon as I arrived from Istanbul. First thing - God, they've got so many shopping malls! I got there in the evening, around 18h, so there wasn't much to do besides dinner and a walk\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eEnglish\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/anamariapopa.com-blog-post-turcia-istanbul-ceai-turcesc-ortakoy-the-house-cafe-ana-maria-popa-featured-image.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1507,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/double-standards-and-je-suis-istanbul\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":1},"title":"Double Standards and Je Suis Istanbul","date":"iulie 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We like Turkey. We love to spend our holidays there, the people are nice and friendly. They've got yummy\u00a0food and amazing weather. Oh, did an attack happen and lots of people died? Yeah well, we are sorry but we will write a status on it on Facebook and we'll be\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eEnglish\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/anamariapopa.com-terrorist-attack-brussels-paris-istanbul-turkey-ataturk-airport-double-standards.jpg?fit=423%2C383&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/no-smoking-day-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":2},"title":"No Smoking Day, 2015","date":"martie 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"UK celebrates today the national 'No Smoking Day'. Now, I know I'm not one of theirs\u00a0(although, does loving British accent count? How about missing London? Or maybe having a British ex-boyfriend? No? Ok...) but it made me think. Made me think about all the people I met in my life\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eEnglish\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/www.anamariapopa.com-ana-maria-popa-featured-image-british-national-day-no-smoking-day-STOP-SMOKING-CAUSE-I-LOVE-YOU-anamariapopa.com_.jpg?fit=851%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1280,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/pr-pros-cons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":3},"title":"PR: 5+5 Pros & Cons","date":"aprilie 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It is a game of give and take, this is for sure. Even with the big picture\u00a0painted, a career is not something that you just rush into.\u00a0Do it with passion or not at all\u00a0-\u00a0somebody said and I couldn't agree more. Knowing yourself leads you to know if you can handle\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eThe Communicator\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":616,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/2014s-lessons\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":4},"title":"2014’s Lessons","date":"decembrie 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"My Facebook newsfeed is full of these 'X's year' and 'It's been a great year! Thanks for being a part of it!'... Really now, you're only fooling yourselves. Facebook is only showing you the most popular things throughout this year. And since you only post the good stuff, how can\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eEnglish\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/anamariapopa.com-blog-post-facebook-app-how-you-year-looked-like-2014-end-of-the-year-new-years-eve-christmas-winter-december-e1419899592143.jpg?fit=580%2C287&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":650,"url":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/happy-nutella-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":5},"title":"Happy Nutella Day!","date":"februarie 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We have a day for everything these days... We celebrate even the weirdest things, from toothaches and having ice cream for breakfast to losing pennies and working naked (wtf?!)... And these are only a few of the celebration days we've got this month... So, let's take a day to celebrate\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u00cen \u201eEnglish\u201d","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/www.anamariapopa.com-blog-post-nutella-day-2015-ana-maria-popa-world-nutella-day-february-5-featured-image-e1423158630785.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anamariapopa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}