Thanksgiving

It’s past our Thanksgiving here in Canada but this weekend is Thanksgiving for our American neighbours. We all have a lot to be thankful for! As Canadians we have tremendous freedom, opportunity, and civility. Personally, I’m thankful to my parents and ancestors for all their tremendous efforts combating tyranny, serfdom, oppression, adversity, national economic depression, and plagues  while adapting, surviving, pioneering, and helping move our Canadian society forward in a NewWorld. They were really quite amazing when you think of it. I can never repay them for their sacrifices except by trying to leave a positive imprint on the world and our nation. 

Maybe it’s all the people I introduced to the natural wonders of the world when I was operating my wilderness adventure tour company. Maybe it’s all the people I taught various outdoor pursuits to and they learned that they could do things they never knew they had in them. Maybe it’s all the school children I taught and “rattled the cage” of just one of them to make a positive difference in this world. Maybe it’s the people I worked with or who reported to me that I hopefully demonstrated there’s another way to achieve your goals rather than chasing the “all mighty dollar”, corporate growth or the belief big is better, being true to yourself in a career path, and/or climbing the organizational chart-read Ram Charan’s Leadership Pipeline. Just maybe it was teaching my own children through both my mistakes and the positive things I did that showed how much I loved and admired them. I don’t know! I only know I’ve been passionate living my personal and professional life, and trying to live a full life. Hopefully a life of meaning and purpose in the service of others. I’m thankful I was given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others; hopefully I succeeded if only for a moment in time. 

I’ll be the first to say I made mistakes, made decisions, and made adversaries in some cases I sincerely regret. That’s why studying the past be it in our own lives or in history is so important to living a rich and rewarding life that recognizes we are on borrowed time. We are just visitors on our planet and servants to the natural order of life. Be thankful we still have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others and embrace the principles of co-existence with nature. Fore without a healthy planet we don’t have a healthy life or a healthy future.   

So be thankful you have choices in life and choose wisely in the future. For some of us it’s easier to blame others for our current situation. Yes, some of us experience misfortune which was non of our doing but I’m not talking about that. It’s those choices in life where we have ownership that I’m talking about. And in those situations that are no fault of our own, I can point to many examples where the individual rose up and choose a path that was still purposeful and meaningful. A path that took courage, commitment, resilience, and dedication to blaze. It’s in all of us, we just have to realize it and do something about it. Fore these were ordinary people who choose an extraordinary life. Be thankful you have been given the gift of this life!