Author: armstrong.wou@gmail.com

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”—Elbert Hubbard

Don’t be so serious.  Lighten up.  Have fun.  Laughter is medicine (sort of).

Laughter may or may not have proven health benefits.  Surprisingly, there is not a plethora of quality research on the physiological effects of laughing, but, who cares, it feels good when we laugh.  Laughter is certainly “well-centered”.

Laughter is Spiritual.  Let’s face it laughing to one’s self is more than just a little awkward.  Humor is meant to be shared.  Laughter is contagious.  And when we can laugh at ourselves, we are showing that we aren’t so self-centered, after all.

Laughter affects us Physically.  C’mon.  If a glass of wine can be said to be equivalent to an hour at the gym (I have some issues with that conclusion.  Maybe in a future post….), surely a good belly laugh has some positive effects—at least you are using muscles and burning calories.  There have been noted effects on the immune system, blood pressure, stress hormones, etc.  It certainly relaxes us and acts to counter our stress.

Laughter is Intellectual.  According to a Business Insider article, “Scientists say being funny is associated with having above-average intelligence”, by Shana Lebowitz (any relation to Fran?), it is (http://www.businessinsider.com/being-funny-is-associated-with-having-above-average-intelligence-2015-11).  “A good sense of humor is sexually attractive, perhaps because it reveals intelligence, creativity, and other ‘good genes’ or ‘good parent’ traits” (Greengoss & Miller, 2011, p.188)—I just had to share this one for my dad!.  Undoubtedly, humor is good for brain function.

Laughter is Emotional.  Duh.  It is hard to carry around negative emotions when one is laughing to the point of tears.

And of course, laughter is Social.  As Greengoss and Miller (2011) point out “humor is sexually attractive.”  We like to be around funny people.  We tell jokes to attract people to us.

I probably don’t have to work too hard to make my case.  We all want to laugh.  Unfortunately, sometimes we take our lives or our situation too seriously.  We shouldn’t.  While we strive to be (extra)ordinary and to be successful, we need to relax and take time to laugh.

Humor is in my blood.  If there is a humor gene, I got it.  Having the gene does not necessarily mean everyone else thinks I am funny, but…. 

I have an 8-year-old daughter who has inherited this unique family gene.  Presently, she is mastering her impersonation of Matt Foley, the motivational speaker in a van down by the river.  She makes me laugh.  She makes everyone laugh.  She brightens the room with her humor.

Give yourself time to smile and laugh.  Be intentional with your laughter.  Make humor a part of your well-centered growth plan.  Like Elbert Hubbard said, none of us is getting out of here alive, so lighten the load for yourself and others.

Carpe momento (and tell a joke)!

Greengoss, G. & G. Miller. (2011). Humor ability reveals intelligence, predicts mating success, and is higher in males. Intelligence, 39:188-192.

“We should never shy away from the challenges that face us out of fear of failure or an unwillingness to battle the odds. We should confront our problems head on and make no excuses.”—Kyle Maynard

I am not a fan of wasting talent.  I am not a fan of not giving 100% one-hundred percent of the time.  I tell my children to fail.  Failure is not, after all, a bad thing.  Indeed, failure is an indication that one is pushing him/herself beyond the comfort zone.  It is a necessity in the philosophy of be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Strive to fail.  Take the risks that will make you better!   I believe that one can only fail if one is giving one’s all.  Anything less is quitting.

In sports and in life, the only options are not winning and losing.  The real options are success, learning (i.e., failure), and quitting.  There is a saying in wrestling: there are only winners and learners.  This should be our attitude in everything.

There is no dishonor in failing.  The only embarrassment is in not trying—or giving up.

I was quite moved by Kyle Maynard’s book, No Excuses.  If you are not familiar with the story, Kyle is a wrestler…with congenital amputation of the arms and legs.  Kyle lacks hands, forearms, and lower legs.  He has only partial feet.  And, he placed in the Georgia State Championships!  More impressive than his success is his failures.  As one would expect, Kyle lost the majority of his matches in his first years—35 straight matches his first two seasons, I believe.  Not necessarily surprising, but what most inspired me was that he was never pinned in those 35 matches!  Never pinned!!  Few fully-able wrestlers can say this.  Kyle Maynard knows that quitting is the only defeat.

I am struggling with imparting this lesson upon my 11-year-old wrestler.  He loves wrestling, but has not embraced the work ethic that is required for success.  He has his shining moments, but he still does not grasp the concept fully.  Last night was such a night.  He is physically gifted.  But giftedness does not supplant desire and effort.  I would rather see my son lose a match scrapping until the final whistle than see him give up or have a half-hearted win over a lesser opponent.  I would rather see him choose to face the tougher practice partner and struggle than have him have perfect technique on a “fish”. 

I emphasize having a growth mindset.  This is the idea behind be your best today; be better tomorrow.  I was pleased to see this supported in an article shared by a sport psychologist friend: “Want to Raise Successful Kids? Science Says Praise Them Like This. (Most Parents Do the Opposite)”

[http://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/want-to-raise-successful-kids-science-says-praise-them-like-this-most-parents-do.html].  We need to challenge the notion that we should be praised for our gifts and reward effort—whether that effort results in success or failure. Bill Murphy, Jr., the author of the aforementioned article suggests: “instead of asking your kids at dinner how school was today, go around the table and ask everyone to share a story of how they struggled with something. (You have to share, too!)”  Embrace the process of growth.  Encourage our children, athletes, students, employees, etc. to strive to fail.  Anything less is quitting.

Carpe momento!

“The 1st period is won by the best technician. The 2nd period is won by the kid in the best shape. The 3rd period is won by the kid with the biggest heart.”—Dan Gable

“It never gets easier.  You just get better.”—Author Unknown

Funny how inspiration comes at you from so many ways.  When it does, you gotta take notice.  Today was one of those days.

Journaling this morning, I was recounting a couple of struggles I am having, and the thought: “Nobody said it would be easy” came to mind.  A short while later, I saw the above quote on Wrestling Mindset’s Facebook page.  Subsequently, Wrestleology shared the admonition to “Leave it all on the mat.”  (See my post, “Leave everything you have in this room” from November 15^th.)  These sum up the day pretty well—not just today, but everyday.  Nobody said it would be easy.  If they did, you might want to question their grasp on reality.  And if life is easy, question whether you are really challenging yourself and living life to the fullest.

Don’t get me wrong.  There are certainly days when I wish it were easier, but, in the end, I prefer the challenge.

A central theme to this blog is “be your best today; be better tomorrow.”  There is simply no way to be better tomorrow, if you aren’t your best today.  You can’t be your best if you don’t give today your all.  If you are giving all you got, it won’t be easy.  As Benjamin Franklin wrote: “there will be time enough to sleep in the grave.”  Lean into the day and push!

If you can’t tell from reading my blog posts, I write to myself, more often than not.  I just hope that others need the same encouragement.  This is one such post.

Some mornings you have to muster a little extra energy to overcome the inertia and start moving forward.  Such days are no fun, but if you are motivated to succeed, you do it. And, you know what?  It gets easier.  But, because you are striving to be well-centered and accomplished, you raise the bar.  You elevate the challenge.  You raise your expectations, and it seems hard again.  (And, yes, sometimes, you do stumble back down the hill from time to time.)  Over time, though, you turn back and see how far you have come.

Years ago, I pledged a fraternity at WVU.  Our “hell week” culminated in a blindfolded climb (more like frantic crawl) up an icy hill at Cooper’s Rock.  We had to make it to the top to become an active member of the fraternity.  I remember clawing my way up the ice, struggling to make it to the top.  At the top, we were permitted to take off the blindfold and see the rising sun.  It was a great sensation of satisfaction and inspiration.  I think of this often when I am clawing my way through life.  I always know that there will be a “sunrise” at the end of the climb.

Embrace the struggle.  As an exercise physiologist, I know that it is the “overload”—the pushing a body system to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed—that promotes adaptation and growth.  Life is no different.  As General George Patton said: “Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”  Go forward.  Carpe momento!

“Excellence is never easy to attain. It is often accompanied by major sacrifices and an extremely high level of uncertainty. It is achieved only through a constant mental and physical battle to arrive at your best, and then replicate that performance over time…over and over, and over. Consistency is what really separates good athletes from great ones, and greats from legends. Discipline in preparation is where it begins and execution is where it is celebrated.”—Jordan Burroughs

 

“Fears and doubts repel prosperity.
Abundance cannot get to a person who holds such a mental attitude. Things that are unlike in the mental realm repel one another. Trying to become prosperous while always talking poverty, thinking poverty, dreading it, predicting that you will always be poor, is like trying to cure disease by always thinking about it, picturing it, visualizing it, believing that you are always going to be sick, that you never can be cured. 
Nothing can attract prosperity but that which has an affinity for it, the prosperous thought, the prosperous conviction, the prosperity faith, the prosperity ambition.”—Orison Swett Marden

Many years ago that Jesus taught of four destructive enemies of faith: fear, doubt, anxious care, and human reasoning.  It is a small step to applying this to the pursuit of anything that is of value in life.  Fear, doubt, day-to-day worries, and (ir)rational thinking have killed more dreams and halted more people’s pursuit of success than can be quantified.  Defeat these and success is inevitable.

Fear, doubt, worry, and faulty reasoning prevent one from even getting started.  This malevolent foursome stops us even before the goal is written down.  If, by strong persistence, the determined set course toward a desired goal, these will no doubt resist progress with a vengeance.

Fear, doubt, anxious care, and human reasoning, however, have only the power we allow them.  We are deceived to believe that these are in control.  They are not.

Our challenge is to overcome their hold—to realize that their grip is weak.  We must ask ourselves “from where do they get their power?”  Something in our past has opened the door for them.  It is for us to determine what and exorcise their power.

Fear and doubt usually come from negative voices that speak in our ear from the past or present influences in our lives.

Anxious care gains access through our legitimate need for security.  Our brain is, after all, wired for our protection.

Human reasoning is just a liar.  “Can’t” is a useless word.  “Can’t” has an empty resume.  It has done nothing.  We who desire to achieve must eliminate it from our vocabulary!

Consider the source of these and go on the offensive against them.  As part of your daily growth routine, include activities that negate their effect and take action to have confidence, self-assurance, balanced care for the concerns of the day—consider these opportunities rather than challenges or barriers, and have a(n) (ir)rational sense that nothing is impossible!  Carpe momento!

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”—Dale Carnegie

 

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”—Zig Ziglar

Setting goals are, no doubt, important, but is it the achievement of the goal that is most important?  Perhaps the best answer is “yes and no”.  It is important that we have and achieve goals, but the process in the pursuit is no less important.

I have mentioned before that Coyte Cooper (Make Your Mark, www.coytecooper.com) puts a twist on the concepts of S.M.A.R.T. goals, suggesting that goals should be “not reasonable by normal expectations”.  In other words, our goals should extend just beyond our (perceived) reach.  We must strive to do what is not seen as reasonably possible. Perhaps, we won’t reach our goal, by chances are we will achieve more than we thought possible.  Clearly, falling a little short on a lofty goal is less desirable than falling short of a small, easily attainable goal.  I just finished reading No Excuses by Kyle Maynard.  Here is a guy who took “not reasonable by normal expectations” to the extreme, fell short, but kicked the butt of expectations, achieving incredible success.

Process is important.  What we learn in pursuing—and especially in failing at—our goals will have lasting effects. This does not, of course, mean that we concern ourselves less about the goal itself.  It simply means that we emphasize both the process and the fulfillment of the goal.

My Mastermind group is dominated by collegiate wrestling coaches.  (I am the only academic—and the least accomplished wrestler.) Yesterday, Andy Lausier (Sacred Heart University Head Wrestling Coach) commented that: “the desire to win is an undeniable fact”.  In other words, success is the desired outcome, therefore one must focus on how he or she performs.  Indeed, focusing only on the desired outcome—winning—can potentially interfere with peak performance. This reminded me of a number of conversations I have had recently and where my mind has actually been lately.  Coaches and academics—and pretty much anyone in a leadership role–are challenged with the balance of setting the bar for success and promoting long-term growth.  Leadership is a transformational proposition.  In leading others, and in our own growth processes, the emphasis must be to be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Two words have come up repeatedly in recent conversations.  These are “gratitude” and “opportunity”.  These are the “process” piece of goal setting.  When we pursue goals from a perspective of continuous improvement, the outcome becomes less important that the pursuit of the outcome.

As a leader—coach, teacher, manager, etc.—our interactions must be transformational rather than transactional.  Winning (i.e., the goal of winning) is a given—an undeniable fact.  But it is what happens in the process that is most important.

Welcome the process.  Receive the opportunity to pursue success with gratitude.  Receive the outcome—whatever it might be—as an opportunity to learn and be grateful for the lesson.  There is a saying that “in wrestling there are only winners and learners”.  The same is true for life.  In life, you are succeeding or you are growing.  Anything else, you aren’t participating.

Set big goals for yourself, but seek “process goals” along the way.  Dream big and welcome the lessons along the way.  If you seek that which is not reasonable by normal expectations, there is no prospect of failure.  Only two potential options remain—success or a new lesson learned.  Along the way there is much about yourself you will discover.  As Theodore Roosevelt famously said: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”  The one who never dares to accept the challenge or to take the road less traveled misses out on the opportunities and experiences that are waiting for those with the heart to receive them.  Carpe momento!

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”—Confucius

 

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”—Ralph Marston

I have come to a place where I understand that everyone and every interaction/event in our lives has brought us to where we are now.  Some (perhaps, many) of these are events that I regret.  The temptation might be to want a “do-over”, but I would not change any of these for what might have occurred to myself and others had these events happened.

I want to look back in life with gratitude and move forward.  There are no “glory days”.  There are no regrets or “what ifs?”.  There is only today.

Tomorrow will be what it will be based upon today’s decisions.  Carpe momento.

This attitude permits one to learn lessons from the past, enjoy the past for what it was, and live today.  There is no time to look back and dwell on the past.  Memories are wonderful (and may be painful), but they can’t be changed.  Yesterday was what it was.  We are where we are because of past decisions (our own and those of others) that we can’t change.  So, why stress over what cannot be un-done?  Focus on what is yet to be done.  We must focus on the decisions we have to make this moment and only these decisions.

I am truly thankful for everyone who has touched my life.  Perhaps, at the time, it might not have been a pleasant experience, but, today, I am who and what I am because of these people.  I celebrate the past, but live in the now.  This gives me a different perspective on the present.  What happens now and in the moments, minutes, hours, and days to come may be out of our control, but how we act/react is wholly within our control.  Carpe momento!

Today is an opportunity to appreciate where we are in life and the people who are journeying with us.  Today is an opportunity to affect lives and motivate others.  Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”—Og Mandino

 

“My favorite part of the holiday season is blaming my long-term weight gain on the holiday season.”–Unkown

Did you get enough to eat?  Most of us were overfed the last few days.  Weight management took a brief vacation, eh?  Now, it is time to get on track, again—before the next wave of holiday overindulgence.

So, you went a bit overboard.  All is not lost.  The key is to remember that it is our lifelong habits that shape our bodies—literally.  It is not the events of a few days.  How about this: give a scale a brief vacation and focus on getting back to your healthy habits (or getting to healthy habits, if you have not been eating right and exercising).

First, don’t punish yourself for indulging in some delicious food and drink.  Focus on the healthy habits that have the long-term affect on your Physical well-being.

Second, don’t think you can redeem your behavior by depriving yourself.  Eat healthy.  Don’t go looking for the latest fad diet.

Weight management is a lifestyle.  According to the “setpoint” theory, your body will naturally adjust to the minor indiscretions of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  You don’t have to force your weight to adjust.

K.I.S.S. is not just a great rock band.  K.I.S.S. is the acronym for Keep It Simple Stupid.  In other words, don’t overcomplicate this diet and exercise thing.  Maybe focus on a just slightly more aggressive approach to losing fat in preparation for the destructive storm that is coming between December 24^th and January 2^nd.  I call it “preemptive fat loss”.

During the weeks between the holidays, be a bit more calorie-restrictive.  Cut a couple hundred extra calories out of your normal plan and add a little more exercise and physical activity.  Don’t go extreme, though.

Choose your foods wisely.  Be a bit more restrictive of carbohydrates (maybe cutting 0.5 grams per pound of body weight)—maintaining sufficient carbohydrates to fuel your level of activity.  Limit sugary foods and drinks.  Focus of nutrient dense, low calorie foods.  Eat a lot of filling veggies and salads.  Get adequate protein—at least a palm-size serving of protein per meal.  Eat two thumb-sized servings of healthy fats with each meal, as well.  Drink a lot of water—no calories here, and filling up on water can ward off hunger pangs (not to mention increase physical activity with frequent trips to the bathroom!).  Cut the foods that are calorie dense and not necessary for good health—i.e., limit desserts!  Cutting out sweets will make them less appealing and more rewarding come the next round of holiday celebrations.

Exercise!  If your health and fitness levels permit, do a few sessions of high-intensity interval training a week.  Lift weights.  Both of these activities will have a greater affect on fat-burning than long, continuous-intensity “cardio” sessions.  Sweat, but don’t sweat the details.  Just move as much as possible.

Limit alcohol consumption between the holidays—maybe a bit more than usual.  A few tips: a shot of liquor is roughly 100 kcals (add high calorie liquids and calories can soar); a 5-ounce glass of wine has 125 kcal; and beer can range widely.  With beer, I consider that, for every %ABV, there are 30 kcal in a 12-ounce glass/bottle.  Calories can add up quickly.  Many craft beers are 7-8% ABV (or higher!).  This is 210-240 kcal per 12 oz serving (280-320 kcal per pint!!). Choosing a good tasting session-style beer (4-5% ABV) can save 120-160 kcal per pint!

The biggest factor to consider in body fat management is caloric balance: eucaloric (calories in = calories out) leads to a stable body weight; hypercaloric (calories in > calories out) leads to weight gain; and hypocaloric (calories in < calories out) leads to weight loss.  You will want to be in a slightly greater hypocaloric state, if your long-term goal is fat loss.  (Thus, the inevitable holiday hypercaloric indulgences will be less damaging to the long-term progress.)  If you are already at a healthy weight, you are fine to be a bit more eucaloric.  Allowing yourself to gradually turn down your “setpoint” body weight between holidays will limit the destructiveness of the holidays to your body composition.  If, however, you allow the holidays to stretch from November through the New Year, the excess calories will move the numbers up on the scale.

Patience.  You will have opportunity to enjoy what the holiday chefs and bakers have in store—in moderation—soon enough.

Tonight is my high school reunion.  Keystone Oaks High School Class of 1981!!  I am excited to go.  It is a chance I get every 5 years to catch up with old friends—and, in many cases, new old friends.

Reunions can serve two purposes: 1) to reminisce about the “glory days”, and 2) to experience the present from the perspective of the past.  I choose the latter.  For one thing, I am not sure I really had any “glory days”.  I had some great times in high school and have some wonderful memories, but I’d like to think that I have moved on.  I like to believe the “glory days” are now and yet to come.

I have had regrettable experiences in my growing years—many missed and blown opportunities.  Thankfully, these are all in the past.  There is no time to dwell on the past, when the present and future are before us.  Carpe momento!

Over the last nearly decade, we have learned to use social media—we, a generation who had only snail mail and phones with cords with which to communicate.  While there is so much misuse of social media, I have found it to be about the only way to stay connected to people I have known over the years.  I have lived in many places, and friends have, likewise, moved around the globe.  Among my social media friends are a growing number of high school classmates who I knew to varying degrees when I was in school.  Most of them are people I would say were not my closest friends in school.  Some, of course, were close friends—at least at different times in my growing years.

While there will be some at the reunion who will only have the past to talk about, most of my friends will be focused on the present.  It is not the past that is important.  It is the memories we make and share now that bind us.

I love my reunions, not because I can relive the past.  I love my reunions, because I get to share the present under the lens of a common past.  As I said, I have had regrettable experiences, but there is not one that I would change—tempting as it might be.  We are all were we are because of these regrettable and memorable moments.  Why change the past when we have the present?  I like to think that I am better today than I was then (I’d better be!)

I am who I am because of everyone I will see this weekend.  I had some small part in who they are, as well.  To some, I certainly owe apologies for things I have done or said, but certainly it is what I do today that has the greatest impact.  I enjoy the fact that the past is passed.  We have all had experiences beyond high school and are involved in lives that are presently worth celebrating.

I just want to conclude this post with an expression of gratitude for all who have affected me over the many years.  I am who I am because of you.  Thank you!

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”—Melody Beattie

 

If you don’t like your current circumstances, you have three choices: 1) leave, 2) change, or 3) accept.  It has taken me a while to realize this, but accepting is most often the best option.  This may sound weak and defeated, but hear me out.

Eight years ago, we moved half way across the country with a 5-month-old and an 11-year-old to a new state and new jobs.  We felt, at the time, a sense of calling to this new life.  It wasn’t all that long before I started to feel a sense of deep frustration.  The job wasn’t all that I hoped it would be and, well, the west coast is a bit different than the east coast and Midwest.  We had left friends and family behind, and I began to think opportunity, as well.  In such circumstances, it is easy to fall into a negative spiral.  Fortunately, with the help of friends and the positive leadership of a mastermind group and mentors, I was able to regain my footing and consider why I found myself where I am.

For the longest time “leave” was my desired option.  The question was, however, “to where?”  My options were rather limited, which fueled my frustration and the negative pull in my life.

“Change” remains an option, but change cannot occur without “acceptance”.  To facilitate change, one must accept that one is where one is supposed to be and that one’s purpose is to be an agent for change.  Otherwise, any effort to change one’s circumstances—especially when the resistance is great—becomes a battle which brings its own negative forces.

Acceptance requires a sense of Spiritual well-centeredness.  Acceptance requires that one recognize that he or she is not the only one affected by finding one’s self where one is.  Unless completely unattached from anyone (in which case, “leave” may very well be an option), there are certainly other reasons for being where you are.

As I considered the “opportunities” that present themselves to me where I am, right now, it did not take long for me to realize that the “opportunities” are not for me and only me.  I have a wife and two children.  I have students.  I have neighbors and friends.  I have colleagues and a university.  I have more than myself who are impacted by my being exactly where I am at exactly this time.  When we can swallow our egos and recognize that we are not the center of the Universe, we can begin to see that maybe, just maybe, we are were we are for someone else’s benefit.

I began to realize this.  I began to see that maybe the Universe didn’t give a crap about me.  Maybe I am in the circumstances so that my wife, son, and/or daughter might have the experiences and relationships that they required.  It was humbling.  But, the more I considered my “opportunities”, the more it became apparent that the friends, teachers, and coaches with whom my children were interacting were having a profound affect on shaping who they are becoming.  It isn’t all about my present and future.  It is about the lives that touch us—dare I say must touch us—and the lives we touch.  The more I considered this, the more it came back to me being where I am supposed to be.

Accepting where we are is freeing.  It frees us of frustration and regret.  We need no longer look backward and ask: “What if?”  We need only ask: “What now?”  There is no longer a desire to change the past.  There is no longer a desire to change the future.  There is only acceptance that we are doing what we need to be doing right now.  If we are striving to be a positive impact on others and doing our very best, we can ask nothing more of ourselves.

In accepting where I am, I have found I am more positive.  I approach the day with greater enthusiasm.  I am more appreciative of others.  I am more supportive.  I have greater gratitude.  Moreover, I find that I am in a better position to change my circumstances.  I have no desire to leave.  Rather, I am excited for what is to come.

If you are dissatisfied with where you are.  Accept your circumstances and consider the “opportunities” that are presenting themselves.  Seize hold of the opportunities and go forward willingly.

Carpe momento!!

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”—Henry Van Dyke

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  Partly because I love to eat, but mostly because it is an expression of what we should show every day.  It is a splendid time to gather with family and friends and be thankful.

At Thanksgiving, it is not what we have on the table for which we should be thankful—though for many there might be nothing to put on the table.  The true blessing of Thanksgiving is who is around the table.  Let us be thankful for family, friends, and neighbors.  The food is just whipped cream on the pumpkin pie.

With football, cooking, and family dynamics, we can easily be distracted from the intent of the day.  The intent is to express our gratitude.  For some, this is not always easy.

Ask yourself—for what am I thankful?

Today will be nothing overly profound, just the expression thanksgiving.

• I am thankful for my faith—that I am not so bound up in religiosity as to lose sight of my calling.
• I am thankful for my family—though mine is scattered they are with me everywhere.
• I am thankful for friends—those who are near and far; all who profoundly influence me daily.
• I am thankful for my neighbors—be they friend or foe.
• I am thankful for the impetus to grow—for the inclination to be my best today and be better tomorrow.
• I am thankful for my health and the opportunity to help others find a path to well-being.
• I am thankful for the opportunity to have an impact on others and have a role in shaping my world.

These are the turkey and sweet potatoes.  Anything else I might receive—money, material things, fame—these are the dessert.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Carpe momento!

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”—Henry David Thoreau