Gratitude Focus “Everyday”… Reflections on Thanksgiving

What a great time of year Thanksgiving is. It allows us to remember everything good, to recall the things for which we are grateful. We can’t help but see life through positive lenses.

I’m grateful that every day, every week, we here at GWM have our tradition of “Positive Focus” to start a meeting (or like Bert told me once, of Bert & John Jacobs from “Life is Good” co) , their Mom use to say, “tell me something good ”at each dinner time ) where we identify and most importantly express something positive that is occurring to someone or ourselves in our lives.

We work hard here at GWM to not call out the same blessing two times in a row, to think beyond the obvious. Our lives are full of blessings. Despite the enormous respect and experience I have for and with the gratitude concept, I don’t think I really realized how much power gratitude has until the COVID war. I’ve heard from many of you, who now use positive focus, saying the impact it was making, not just in your personal focus, but also with your social interactions. Because reflecting on the positive is so powerful, I want to use this Thanksgiving (still my favorite holiday) season to do share a little bit of that right now.

So, for me:

• This year we had more dinners at home than I can ever recall. We had more time together with or without my having to stand in line for take-out.
  
• This year I got to enjoy time with each family member in a unique way. Oddly, this blessing is a direct result of having to quarantine. We spent more time talking and sharing via Zoom and on the phone. Time “together”, while quarantined, improved.
  
• This year I got to see the value of everything our company can do, and is doing, for clients (and their friends & family); to see what happens when we develop strong relationships; and how much we can really do for one another in times of need.
  
• This year I could watch amazing people who nourish and do incredibly positive things in resilient ways. They make this world work when it looked like it was impossible for the person or people not feeling up to speed, these nourishing people were inspiring.

This year I learned even more to be fully grateful for my health; and I was not so gently reminded to never take it for granted. Opportunities of car accidents and a surgeries now in the rear view mirror make sure perspective remains fresh, that these are not forgotten, and I get to be grateful for my health, and I won’t take it for granted as I remember, even at this time when these more recent challenges are behind me
It wasn’t even 20 years ago (my kids and I moved out of a large home across from the Hudson river to find ourselves in a studio apartment in WA, that’s another story) when I was looking at one day having a lake home in WA and PT living in Maui. I’ve been living in my our current home for 11 years and due to COVID changes am now find we are ahead of schedule investigating living Part time in Maui while we talk through Zoom occasionally through the year.

So, as we pause this week to be thankful, let me challenge you to take some time and reflect on your year and express gratitude to those in your life who have helped during these challenging times. And if you did it on your own(I hope not, it’s a tough road), take a look in the mirror and give yourself the appreciation you are due!

• Who or what in your life helped you, pushed you, and encouraged you to scale new heights of success – regardless of how you define that success(it could be staying “OK” considering all that is occurring, or it could be way bigger!).
  
• Who or what in your life gave you tools and resources you needed to jump over the hurdles you faced as a family leader, business owner, a corporate executive, or a retired homemaker, and land squarely on your feet and keep moving forward with your plan of living life?(*this life is not a dress rehearsal, live it safely, but don’t stop living it)
  
• Who or what circumstances in your life loved and supported you and, as a result, helped you become a better family leader, friend, parent, brother, sister, executive, entrepreneur, etc.? A better person?”

It is with great humility that I share how grateful I am for all of you and wish you and your family’s, teammates, and friends a heart of thankfulness and blessings during this season.

Best Always,
With Gratitude,

Steve