Thanksgiving brings about the best time of year: the air is cool, the leaves are falling, and  your loved ones gather together for the lovely holiday. Feasting together on turkey, mashed potatoes, and apple pie for dessert, families all over America offer thanks for all they have.

However, as soon as Black Friday sales begin, the brief period of gratitude associated with Thanksgiving is replaced with the materialism of Christmas. People cannot wait until the end of Thanksgiving before racing to the mall to indulge in subpar deals, marking the beginning of holiday shopping. Individuals all over the country wake up at the crack of dawn to buy clothes and appliances, deal after deal, indulging in greedy desires disguised as compassionate giving.

While Christmas should be a beautiful holiday, full of cheer and singing happy Christmas jingles gathered around the tree, materialism pollutes the joy and humility of the holiday, interfering with the gratefulness brought on Thanksgiving. It befuddles me that few see anything wrong with drawing up a list of things they want and making their parents buy them.

According to ABC News, the money spent on holiday gifts in America totals over 465 billion dollars. According to visionofearth.org, in order to abolish poverty within 20 years, the per year cost would be 175 billion dollars. The money Americans spend on Christmas could be used to abolish poverty, and we’d still have plenty of money left to spend.

Sadly there is only one day a year where people come together to show gratitude for all they have before they make way for the greediness associated with Christmas. Rather than marking Black Friday shopping as an end to the Thanksgiving spirit, the mode of thankfulness should continue through the holidays in order to preserve the art of giving rather than receiving. Rather than sculpting your list of presents you wish to see under the tree, remember that what is worth more above objects is humility and gratitude.