This Thanksgiving, Remember You Will Die

“When your relatives force you to look at photos on their phones, be thankful they no longer have access to a slide projector. When your aunt expounds on politics, rejoice inwardly that she does not hold elected office. Instead of focusing on the dry, tasteless turkey on your plate, be grateful the six-hour roasting process killed any toxic bacteria.”
 — Science has some tips on how to handle Thanksgiving. Your main takeaway? Be more grateful. I can actually endorse this idea, although not necessarily in the way it is suggested here. My personal technique for coping with the holiday is to remind myself that even though I had the misfortune to be born and have spent this burden of sentience mostly in suffering and sorrow, there is nothing I can do that will prevent me from dying, and, actually, quite a few things that will help hurry it along. No matter how bad things are, I remind myself, they will eventually end. And then I don’t feel so bad! Oddly, this trick does not work for Christmas, which seems to go on FOREVER, but it has definitely helped me make it through many a November.

Photo by Poznyakov, via Shutterstock