It should be obvious to all of us that we’re blessed. If we wake up and go to work, or we wake up and clean the dishes that litter the sink most mornings, and then after some time of working in either venue we open up our computers and look at a website dedicated to the pursuit of Lake Geneva vacation homes, then it’s obvious that this is a blessed, charmed life. I get to wake up and drive my kids to school, most days. When I pull into the drop off lane and slow to a stop, I tell my kids to be leaders and I blow my daughter a kiss, but only after she blows one in my direction first. It’s sort of our thing.
I linger in that lane for a few extra seconds, just long enough to see my son open and hold the door for my daughter, and that simple gesture makes me incredibly proud. I’m thankful for that act, for those kids, for those mornings when I get to see that. It’s a wonderful life, and I can see it and recognize it without any crisis needed. It isn’t necessary to reach some personal rock bottom to see that there are plenty of things to be thankful for. There’s no snowy bridge to consider jumping from. No need for such dramatic hysterics. If we’re here and we’re reading this today, it’s painfully obvious that we are all blessed.
But maybe I should stick to speaking for myself. I feel incredibly grateful for these sorts of years. Years where my business is increasing, or at least holding steady, where I get to stand on this virtual soapbox and have some influence over what at least a few people think. I value that position, I value the opportunity to help guide people through a market that seems easy and simple but is, in fact, very far from it. To be trusted is an amazing thing, and I think I’d take being trusted over being loved, and I’d prefer to be trusted over being liked.
The blessings of my life are so apparent and so numerous, and so very potent. I’m thankful for not just listed things that I might rattle off and print in a list, but I’m thankful for everything. I’m thankful for difficult years both personally and professionally (2008, I’m looking at you), and I’m thankful for years like this where my biggest gripe is that I don’t have all of the lakefront and lake access business, instead of just a whole lot of it as I have now. Perspective is what I need some days, perspective is what I can see my clients in desperate need of on other days, and perspective is what makes life so much sweeter.
Tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, I’m going to give thanks. But to narrow down a thankful attitude to just one day is a waste, and a misrepresentation, as I’m thankful for every day, and I’m thankful for my customers and clients that let me take this attitude and support my family with it. It’s a wonderful life, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be living it. Have a very safe and hopefully a very Lake Geneva Thanksgiving.