My friends!

We have reached that time of year that Geoff likes to call the Holiday Slide! It begins with Halloween and before you know it the new year is picking up steam! I love this time of year!

Over the many years that I’ve enjoyed the privilege of working with you, a common theme keeps coming up. I don’t know if I’m attracting this because of the energy around me, or if it’s just human nature. May I be so bold as to say, this year we need to make a change, and the change begins with us.

A very wise man who lead a church across the prairies of the US and re-established it in the wilderness of Utah in the mid 1800’s said, “He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool.” That man was Brigham Young. Do you know of a time when a family member offended you? Were they really trying to offend you? Sometimes family members can be real stinkers and will lash out because they are hurting. It takes a lot of fortitude to be able to set one’s own feelings aside and not be offended when someone you care about displays a little tantrum. In a society that teaches people to think only of themselves, and be ultra critical of others, maybe some people are just holding on by a thread, trying to survive another day. Believe me, it’s so much more pleasant to endure day to day when there’s not emotional scars looming over.

It is my hope that we can celebrate Thanksgiving this year with a heart full of gratitude. List all that you’re grateful for. List all of your blessings. Then I want you to list your mistakes and how they’ve become blessings to help you not repeat those mistakes. Also list your trials and look at those trials with new, open eyes, and see how they have been blessings in disguise.

One trial I thought I had was that we didn’t make enough money. I fretted about it for many years. Then one day I realized that we have never gone without the basics… food, shelter, warmth, water, safety. We have always been cared for. Now I’m grateful for that trial so I can feel security knowing we are always taken care of. It has been so helpful during years when there were employment issues hovering around us.

I hope with all my heart that you will feel the heartfelt gratitude that comes when you realize all the blessings you’ve been given and continue to receive. This year I am so grateful we have made it to retirement! It’s been wonderful having my precious husband with me all day every day. We have had such fun together just being together. It’s been fun sharing the household chores and watching the old TV shows together. We go to the gym and shopping together. What a blessing he is to me!

Happy Thanksgiving!