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Let's let Thanks Giving serve as a reminder, not an exception. What if "Gratitude" can become our "default"? There is nothing as potent as "gratitude" when it comes down to quelling a longing, calming restlessness, quieting anxious thoughts, filling emptiness, overcoming doubt or celebrating abundance. It is a force we can tap into at will, one with the ability to change our perspectives and fuel our potential.
When our starting point is gratitude, we have already won, before we begin with the rest of our lives.
I am grateful for having been welcomed into the Meyerhoff house while I was lonely during the holidays. Thanks Mrs. Meyerhoff, you are a tough act to follow, a lovely lady, a rock for your family and a role model for women, and I am glad to know we share our love for opera and for Alex, my dear friend and colleague.
I am grateful to have hiked Tahquitz Canyon with Alex and being lost in thought about the mythology and natural beauty of the place.
I am grateful for my children, Lourdes and Sofia, who make every single sacrifice a little price to pay to have them in my life. Mommy loves you both.
I am grateful for having the opportunity to teach, run, lead an office and be of service to my team-mates, Cliff, Peter, Alex, Ivan, Ashi, Zach and Matias. You have no idea how much energy and enthusiasm you bring into this exhausted traveller, who against all odds, tries every day to go back to the well and be replenished so I can lead you to greatness. With all my foibles and shortcommings, each one of you know that I always leave everything on the field, I walk away from each battle, knowing fully that although the scoreboard did not work in our favor, we left it all in the field, we gave it our best and as such, whether we succeed or fail, it will not be a dance-on-the-tables/hide in the corner choice... we all know were we stand in that dance/hide debate.
Thanks everyone you are a blessing and as such I refuse to just limit my gratitude to one day a year. In fact, for people like me, it is a every-day kind of thing... Adversity may stare us on the face, but as seasoned players, we may whink at it and dance away the only way we know how... leaving a cloud of dust behind, like in the Old Spaguetti Western movies.
A blessed Thanks Giving everyone, whether a team member, a student, a friend or a curious soul...
Ana
PS. Thank you dad for chosing this glorious holiday to say good bye. You have taught me that there are many ways to bring your memory back and to a certain extent your legacy by doing good for others "anonymously".