34 Reasons to be Thankful

Today and Every Day

I am a proud Canadian. I live in the most multicultural country on earth which means there is never a shortage of places to find great food and learn customs from all over the world.

We have clean drinking water, safe roads, universal health care and an abundance of natural resources.

There are about 33 million of us spread over the second largest land mass in the world but despite some suspicions we do not all speak French or live in igloos and it is not winter eleven months of the year.

What is true is that innovation, ideas and creativity are plentiful in Canada.

It is a wonderful place to live.

Canadian Thanksgiving was on October 11th this year. Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. And since over half of the visitors to this space are from the U.S., I thought I would mention some of what I am thankful for every day.

• My family
• Great friends
• A sense of humour
• Learning daily
• Creativity
• Better understanding of me
• Abilities yet to be fully developed
• Incredible people I have met through various social networking channels
• Chocolate
• Opportunity to help others
• Conceptual thinking
• Humility
• You
• Options for my career path
• Wisdom of Mom
• Fascinating clients
• Passion for writing
• Help when I least expect it from the most surprising of places
• Tireless mentors
• Feedback
• An inquisitive mind
• Health
• Choice to quest a fulfilling career
• Freedom
• Four brothers from other mothers
• Ice cream
• Passion
• Appetite for more
• Childlikeness of Dad
• Fabulous colleagues
• People on my side
• Curiosity
• Appreciation for now

What are your reasons to be thankful?

knealemann | email


Join me for Movember.
image credit: jessica lagunas

Be Thankful. Be Inspiring. Be Ourselves.

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada and Columbus Day in the U.S., Día de la Raza to Día de las Culturas in most of the Americas and Discovery Day in the Bahamas.

Families are gathering around the turkey and pumpkin pie which is a good chance to take a moment to think about the important stuff and discard the rest.

Today, I have work to do but I am also taking stock of how I’m doing and it can be an interesting process. I have a long way to go, need to improve on many things but all those thoughts can take me away from what I do well.

Sound familiar?

I stepped out of the corporate world four years ago and I’d love to tell you the journey has been smooth and full of nonstop upward momentum but that’s not the case and my story is not unique.

In North America alone, there are more than 30 million people out of work today. They are struggling to figure out what’s next for them, they are trying to find a way to provide for their family and feel thankful this weekend.

Lend a Hand.

All this talk about community and connection is utterly useless if we make it about ourselves. So help one person today in a real way. Often being thankful comes with perspective yet we need to stop and pay closer attention to it. If we are thankful, we can inspire others but the only way to do that is be ourselves.

You okay with that?

knealemann

image credit: tmcnet