I will keep this one short as today is Thanksgiving Day. Today in my mind is one of the best days of the year for many reasons but the top three reasons that come to mind are...1) Family, Family, Family...without them in our life we are lost and lacking one of the most important support systems we have 2) Fitness/health...its one day out of the year where lots of people wake up (usually to cold temps) and get out of the house to run, walk, trot or crawl some sort of Turkey Trot 3) This one might step on the feet of number two but FOOD...I absolutely love the food that is served on turkey day. Maybe one of the reasons that the food is so good also is that it is prepped at home for hours and with lots of love instead of some store bought garbage.
Thanksgiving Day is also a day in which we should recognize how grateful we are for what we have in our life. Each year I love to put these down on paper as it reminds we of how special our lives are the rewards of all our hard work each day of the year. Its also important to tell those close to you how much they mean to you. Sometimes we can get so focused on the process that we forget to take a second to tell those around you THANKS for all that they do.
My list of things I am grateful for is to long for this blog so I will keep it to a top ten list today:
1. My three little ladies. Without them my life would truly be empty. They are hands down the most important things I have in this life and everything I do all comes back to those three very special little ladies in my life.
2. My wife. I know she should just be part of number one but she deserves a point all to herself. In ten years of being married to her she has not once complained about any of my antics. She constantly supports me 110% which I know can be hard at times. She works harder than anyone I know professionally with the sole purpose of providing for her family and I want her to know that the girls and I are so grateful for her.
3. Friends. I am not going to list out any individuals but I am grateful that life drove me towards this uber passion of running/triathlon. If you have never hung out with this crowd then you are missing out. This community revolves around support and always putting themselves second behind helping someone first.
4. Chiropractic. The reason I am grateful for my profession is that I get to go to work every single day and make an immediate impact in someones life. There is not waiting to see if surgery worked or if some medication will make a change. I get to physically work on a patient and make an immediate positive change. I have had patients come in with tears of joy that after years of discomfort I was able to provide them with the relief they were seeking.
5. Failure. Without failure in my life I would never be able to reach the next level of success. I love failure as it is the ultimate professor of success. I get to learn what I did wrong and adjust everything that is needed to make that failure a success the next time around. Don't shy away from failure but engulf the experience and learn from it.
6. Health. I can't say that I have always been focused on health but my education and personal desire to always want to be better has led me to leading a healthy lifestyle. I am grateful that my daughters would rather eat fruits and vegetables than a bag of chips. I am grateful for being able to wake up each day and press forward without anything getting in my way. I am not big on medication and believe that a lifestyle diet, exercise and positive mental thoughts are the most powerful medication we have. Take time now to make the right choices in your life as I can promise that they will lead you to a happier life later in life.
7. Family. I think I tried to invite about 50 patients/friends to my house this holiday season as I hate when people don't have people around them to spend this time with. I have been blessed with an amazingly supportive family base in my life. My parents never told me I couldn't do anything but knew I had to fail at times to understand life more. I appreciate everyone in my family as I know no matter how bad life can get they will always be there for me.
8. Success. Success has led me to keep pushing the limit of what I can accomplish. In my mind there is nothing that I can't accomplish in this world. Success allows me to experience many levels of joy and internal peace. Success has also allowed me to give back to those who are less fortunate whether in financially or words of wisdom success allows you the power to change someones life.
9. Humble. I purposely put this behind success as I think its an important concept for individuals to learn in life and something my wife and I are trying to teach our daughter after her recent success's in running (actually everything she does). Every once in awhile I look back on what I have done so far and it puts a smile on my face of the accomplishments I have obtained. I could use that and be very arrogant but that is a character flaw I am not fond of. I think it takes a stronger person to be humble and praise other peoples achievements instead of brag about yours.
10. Freedom. At the end of the day without freedom a lot of the previous 9 items might be more difficult to appreciate. I am grateful for everyone that wakes up in the morning whether over seas or on US soil with the main goal of keeping our country safe. I give THANKS to all military members who are waking up on Thanksgiving away from their families as they protect our freedom.
Make sure at some point today you share with yourself, your family or your friends what you are grateful for. If you have a hard time coming up with anything than at least starting from that point on you know that you can make your life that much more rich by starting to build you list.
One last point as I have been working towards it all month. November is also known as Movember and for those who are not familiar Movember is us males version of breast cancer awareness month. During the month of November men are suppose to not shave and grow facial hair with a mustache being the ultimate goal. The goal is to raise awareness for health issues that affect men in particular...i.e. testicular cancer, prostate cancer and even breast cancer. This is my second year in a row trying to spread the word and below you will find my most recent Movember photo.
So on this day of thanks go forth and enjoy everything that you are blessed with and realize that life is ever evolving so if you are not happy with your situation today then you have the power to make a change.
Make It Count!!!
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