Of all the holidays we celebrate in our home, Thanksgiving is our favorite. We frequently find ourselves the home base for family travelling through since we are centrally located between everyone, so each Thanksgiving is filled with a different combination of family members from either side all gathered around the table in front of a giant turkey and a mountain of stuffing and potatoes. But it’s more than that warm feeling of being around family, the cool weather outside, and a full belly. We have sought to instill thankfulness and gratitude as a core value here. It has been said that feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. So, with that in mind, I would like to share a thought on thankfulness that has been an encouragement to me and will hopefully be an encouragement to you.
I become reflective this time of year, considering the thoughts of others on the Thanksgiving season and my thoughts on another year of life; thankfulness for the events of the year and the people by which those events transpired. I find myself agreeing with Marcus Samuelsson who said, “I love Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance of me.” Truthfully, we jest – the food is just a means of celebrating that of greater import to us. I think it is better, then, to consider the words of C.S Lewis who said “ We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is ‘good,’ because it is good, if ‘bad’ because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” To be sure, while I should be thankful for those “good” things in my life, the so-called “bad” events play just as an important part in shaping me as the good ones and likely are the better teacher of the two. Perseverance, gratitude, empathy, hope, patience, endurance, honor, dependence, and many other virtues are the gems of life revealed to us though the “bad” events. Without the “bad” events, I could not otherwise learn those virtues.
I am so very thankful for an ever-increasing list of those “good” things that most certainly includes you and the impact you have had on our company and its people. May I encourage you, as I encourage myself, at this time of year when we set aside a day to be thankful for food, family, football, fall leaves, friends, cool weather, a warm home, great co-workers, clients, and more, to also choose to be thankful for those “other” events we so easily leave off the list and consider the value they provided as well. Or, as the great philosopher Charlie Brown so eloquently said, “What if, today, we were grateful for everything?” I think that is a great idea for all of us.
– Happy Thanksgiving from Scott, Darin, George, Brandon, Stephen, Kurt, Ryan,
Justin, Stephen E., Dustin, O’Neil, Ted, Connor, Rob, Caleb, Charlie Sasha and Christina