Giving Thanks

As busy business owners we may forget that taking some time off work to spend with our family and friends is equally as important as taking time to build our success.

Here in Canada we are celebrating the Thanksgiving weekend and for me it is a time to thank my husband and family for being there to help me throughout the year and be there for me through the good times and the bad times. It is not, for me, about eating Turkey, in fact we are going to be having a joint celebration this Thanksgiving, and we will be celebrating my Birthday a week late due to the fact I was in Europe with my husbad when my Birthday took place.

I was born and raised in the UK and I remember at the High School I attended we would celebrate harvest time by taking a donation of food to school and we would sing songs which I still remember such as "we plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land," but I don't think I realised back then how giving back to those less fortunate made such a difference to the lives of the people receiving the food.

My life was blessed with loving parents, a warm and cosy house to live in, with plenty of fresh food on the table, and just enough money to pay the bils. My parents worked hard, my dad during the day and my mom evenings, to make sure one of them was always there to take care of us and also to make the money needed to give us the life we enjoyed. I was not Aware of the poverty and hardships some families battled with and how each day was a struggle to survive. I doubt this was the fault of my parents or teachers, I was a quiet child and lived in a World of my own most of the time so maybe I was not ready back then to be Aware and work towards how I could help in a more significant way.

How my life has changed, for the better mostly, after battling many health and financial challenges, but the best thing ever is that I am now able to give back to people "when" they need the help which is very important to me.

Giving Thanks is a personal thing and no one can or should tell you how or when to do this, but we often need a reminder to be thankful for the people closest to us who give up a lot to be there for us, day in and day out. When you celebrate Thanksgiving this year look around you and know in your heart just how blessed and thankful you are, not just one day of the year but every day you live to see another day.