Black Friday (On Thursday)

   

Thanksgiving day is filled with so many incredible memories for all of us. Waking up to the smell of food cooking for the big meal. Watching the Parade on t.v. Hoping to get a glimpse of Santa, which officially starts the Christmas season. 

Eating until we’re about to pop. And then eating a little more. Kicking back and watching football as we fall asleep. Waking up from a nap to…well, eat again! Then that moment comes when someone breaks out the Thanksgiving newspaper. It appears to be the size of a set of encyclopedias. 

We all huddle around the table, passing inserts back and forth to each other. Making our game plan for the early morning deals. Waking up in the middle of the night to go stand in line for a stainless steel trash can for $5! You seriously can’t beat that price. 

The excitement builds as we figure out where to go. Where to meet up later that day. And who, indeed, got the best deal of the day. 

And we’re making these plans all while still eating a combination of mac-n-cheese and pumpkin pie!

It’s our tradition… And I love it! It’s all I’ve ever known. It’s what we’ve always done. But something horrible happened… A few years ago… Walmart changed the game. 

Instead of opening at 5am on Black Friday… The decided to open their doors at 10pm on Thursday!

WHAT?!?! Are you kidding me?!?! 

You can’t do Black Friday on a Thursday. That’s against the rules. It’s not what I grew up doing. It goes against my family traditions!

How dare they mess with something I truly loved. I was mad. I disguised my anger about my tradition and acted as if I was offended on behalf of the Walmart employees having to work on Thanksgiving. 

The truth: I didn’t care about others having to work… I cared about my tradition being ruined. 

I remember that year going through the paper mad at Walmart. I didn’t even want to look at their ad. But I did! And when I opened it up and saw that the stainless steel trash cans were on sale starting at 10pm that night… I decided to go. I was mad… But I went. 

I fought through the crowd and literally grabbed the last trash can. In that moment… I felt proud. I felt accomplished. I felt like I had won a championship and received my trophy. 

 I started thinking… Maybe this Thursday shopping isn’t so bad after all. I got what I wanted. I saved a lot of money. And I don’t have to get out of bed at an unGodly hour and stand in the freezing cold. Yeah… Maybe this isn’t horrible at all!

I came home pumped. But it quickly turned to conviction…

Life Lesson: All change is hard but not all change is bad!

Change is in direct conflict with our traditions. It’s doing something different. Something unfamiliar. Something uncomfortable. And that right there is enough for most people to reject change. 

We like doing things the way they’ve always been done. It’s one less thing to think about. In a world that’s changing and we have no control over… We still like to hang on to the things we can control. Our traditions. 

And traditions aren’t bad! I love them. We still live by them. But now… I’m not opposed to tweaking them… Or changing them all together in return for a better way. 

My thought process changed from “how dare they change something I’ve always done!”… to “what might I be missing due to my unwillingness to adjust!”

You see… I didn’t lose my tradition all together. We still sit around the table and look at a newspaper. We still make a game plan about where to go and where to meet up. 
But now… Shopping starts a little earlier and we get to sleep a little later! And that’s a WIN!

So here’s a thought for you today… What might you be missing out on because of your unwillingness to adjust to change? What have you walked away from because change was occurring?
I’d hate for you to miss out on some amazing things because change was just too hard. 

Essex