A week of Gratitude - Day 1

To begin this week long exercise of listing three things each day for which I am grateful, I want to start back where it all began for me, and that is with

1. The Family I was born into

Whether I chose the time and place or whether it was the miracle of circumstance mixed with fate, the end result was the same, and for that I am most grateful.  Growing up in a family that didn’t know divorce or violence or any number of the afflictions that allow Jerry Springer to have a television career is something I took for granted, but now see as a great cornerstone for my life so far.  Learning to exist within a family and how to compromise and deal with shared experiences and limited time and resources shaped me into who I am becoming.  I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for the people most closest to me and most influential in my early development.  It would be easy then to list off my parents and my siblings as other things I am grateful for, but I’m going to leave them lumped here together and move on.

As much as Family had an important role in helping form the earliest of my character, I next want to focus my gratitude on

2. All the Teachers I have met so far along my journey

I’m lumping a lot of people into one small category and it would probably be most productive for me to delve deeper into this list later but for now I want to acknowledge all those who I have had the pleasure of coming into contact with who have given me something of themselves and their knowledge and abilities to help me grow and learn.  I was fortunate to have a motley crew of early teachers in school – the good, the bad and the ugly – this allowed me to figure out how to learn when the teacher and I didn’t always connect,  and gave me a greater appreciation for those that were natural at reaching kids and imparting their love of knowledge.  But teachers aren’t only found in schools or colleges or Universities and some of my best teachers have been complete strangers who have provided me with opportunities to grow as a person through the mundane and regular activities of everyday life.  The cashier at the grocery store having a rough day and not really being present during our transaction; the receptionist at the doctor’s office who’s grace under pressure never ceases to amaze me; the patient father at the rink with 3 young kids in tow watching their oldest brother play who somehow keeps everything in balance and in perspective…

To all of you I owe at least my heartfelt thanks.

And lastly this morning I want to state how grateful I am for

3. the Freedom we possess in this society

To be able to do something as simple as create this list is something we take for granted and hold it to be self-evident but we know this isn’t the case for a great majority of those that share this planet.  It is one of the greatest gifts we have given each other.  To be free to move without restriction, to think about whatever and however we chose, to experience the world around us as easily as we do is truly remarkable once we step back and realize how many people can not – for a variety of reasons and circumstances.  It should be available to all, but we know it isn’t, and we know it doesn’t come without a cost, and for this I am truly thankful. Freedom to choose, to disagree, to help, to hurt, to ignore, to become involved, to learn, to grow, to give, to love…

The genesis of this list of gratitude is really predicated on the enormous number of freedoms we have, and I am certain I could write pages in support of this aspect of my life, but I want to keep this daily list manageable – both in terms of you being able to read it and comment on it, and also for me to be able to write it!

I’ll ponder more about these three today and see where it takes me.