This week as everyone prepares to give thanks for their family, or a meal or their favorite football team, I find myself wanting to thank the people who made me who I am today. Until recently re-building friendships on Facebook, I would not have been able to tell you how much people from my past…my way, way back in the past…are very much a part of who I have become. It is this group for whom I am grateful. Of course, the list also includes co-workers, family members and neighbors. Add the boss who fired me without justification; and the boyfriend who dumped me without provocation and the gratitude continues. If not for the miseries, the stronger more resilient human would not have emerged

You see, I’m pretty happy with who I am at this very moment. I am not the perfect weight, height nor do I have perfect skin. I am not as influential or quite as far along the path as I would have imagined I would be by now, but I am happy. I am content and peaceful and appreciative of all the experiences, mistakes and lifetimes I’ve lived becoming me. I am also optimistic that my story continues to get better as life continues on.

I am the consummate survivor, but I am not without defect. I’ve had to learn “humble.” It doesn’t come all that naturally for my people. We’re small, but we think we’re huge. It is our survival technique. Without simple honesties from people who love me, there would be no humility, without the heartache there would not be joy, and without tragedy there would be no triumph! All of these make me grateful.

As I always say, it’s the little things that make the lifelong difference in the lives of people around us. The things we learn in life are the things we practice at work. There is no separation between the two. The more my home and work lives intersect, the more grateful I am for who I am becoming.

So, for the many teachers I have had the honor of learning from, whether they knew they were teaching me or not, thank you for everything you have taught me: courage, tenderness, trust, strength, change, compassion, determination, love, betrayal, laughter, inspiration, wit, death, dignity, honesty, equanimity, serenity, humility, sacrifice, perseverance, sorrow and forgiveness. These are the life lessons that make for a story worth reading about; these are the lessons I will strive to protect. These are the things that make me take pause and say thank you. I will do this more often.

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