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I sat by the window during my usual train ride home for the holidays. I passed the same lakes, parking lots, restaurants and hardware stores that I always have for the past five years, but there was something different about passing them this time around. Rarely do I have this quiet time to reflect on things, but during my two and half hours on the Amtrak Regional to New Haven, I let myself think about what this holiday means to me.

Thanksgiving to me has always been about eating delicious food, watching football games and spending time with friends and family that I rarely get to see throughout the school year. As I was growing up, my siblings and I would stay in our pajamas all morning, watch the parade and prepare for the feast that was upon us. I remember helping my mom in the kitchen while she prepared all the food and starving myself for the entire morning just so I could down as much food as possible. My grandmother would come over right before our meal and sit at our kitchen counter. We would talk about how pretty her jewelry was or how long my hair had grown. My dad would sit by the fire and read his medical journals while the cats ran around the house, excited by all of the activity.

Looking back, these seemed such simple things, but they were the happiest moments of my childhood. Now, as all of us get older and experience the daily stresses of life, we forget how something so simple could be so fulfilling. Holidays become focused on finding the best bargains, traveling constantly or having extra time to get ahead on our work. Sometimes it is easy to forget that keeping it simple and spending a day with the family can be all the rejuvenation we need to collect ourselves. Sharing a laugh with your brother or getting a big hug from your mom always beats a red-tag sale at Target or an overwhelming pile of papers to correct.

Once I really started to think about Thanksgiving, I realized that you cannot find the meaning of the holiday on a sale rack or in a gift box. As my mom would say, the only place you can really find it is in your heart—in your heart, and in the company of those you love. And once you stop looking for the meaning, you will see it is there right in front of you. So enjoy it. Be grateful. Give thanks for what you have and how lucky you are to have it. It really is as simple as that.

This holiday season, I encourage you to give thanks. Turn off your Blackberry, sign out of your Facebook, and even put all of your work back into your briefcase for a while. Lounge on the couch with your family. Laugh with your friends. Call someone you have not spoken to in a while and catch up. Eat way too much. Jump up and down when your favorite football team scores a touchdown. Bask in the glory of your beloved cup of coffee and take the dog outside for a run. Just say thank you. And once you do, I am sure you will feel the reward of how a simple “thank you” can make everything else in your daily life seem a little more manageable.

Happy Holidays