How come at Thanksgiving and Christmas we feel so much sadness when it is supposed to be a joyful time of the year?

Answer 1

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Actually, there are three 'kinds' of experiences surrounding the Christmas season reflected in the three gifts of the Magi to the infant Christ:

1) The experience that comes by focusing on material wealth, i.e. 'gold';

2) The experience that comes by focusing on spiritual development, i.e. 'frankincense' used for prayer and communion with GOD;

3) The experience that comes by focusing on the 'bitterness and gall' of life, remembering the poor and the oppressed, i.e. 'myrrh,' a bitter resin used to flavor wine and dull pain. 

You appear to be the latter of the three. 

Ideally, you should balance them all and get the full experience. Too much focus on any particular one makes the experience an obsession. Not enough focus on each makes the experience unpleasant or unhealthy. 

Nevertheless, it seems that people reliably continue to view the holidays in these three ways since that is the 'Spirit' of the season itself whether people recognize it or not. 

 

Answer 2

Some think of people we've lost, or cant be with us, at these 'holiday' times.

Answer 3

Because moat of us lost important people in our lives

Answer 4

It's that for most people, childhood was a happy time with relatives at Christmas and Thanksgiving. Once you grow up, things change. In America, many people move away from their secure families and start anew in a different city.

Answer 5

One thing the days they represent somebody had to shed their blood.

Answer 6

cause people are thinking of family members they have lost

Answer 7

When you're enjoying your time with people you care about only to realize everything comes to an end, that is depressing. Also, family might feel more whole when there are children around for instance, then everyone grows up and its just one more day of the year, usually where half a dozen people might not even be able to make it. That's also depressing due to work etc. At least that's just the way I see it.

Answer 8

I'm not sure what you mean by "We". I'm surrounded by loving relatives, singing festive songs, and full of good cheer. Excuse me while we decorate another tree.