― Marcus Tullius Cicero
After celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend with family and friends, this thought really connects, or at least it should. This whole idea of being thankful has been presented to me many times recently. It was great to spend time with my family as obviously, like everyone else’s family, mine is getting older. My parents, my wife and I – especially my kids, but of course my sister, her husband and kids too. Of course the same is for my in-laws too. Time is marching on for all of us, all the people I care about. Time going by has many qualities to it, and for me being grateful is one at the top of the list.
I think back to the importance of the quote from Tiger Woods about father time being undefeated. It waits for nobody. It keeps moving on. It comes, is here a brief moment and then quickly becomes part of our past. It’s what we do in those brief moments that has me focused on being grateful. Of course I try and make the most of my time, especially in the moment itself – since that is really all we have, but recently I’ve had the ability and thought to be very thankful for those moments while they are happening. I think it’s the simple fact that as time goes by, and we get older, we can’t help but look back at all the memories along with looking forward for the things we still want to accomplish. It’s difficult, but possible to start the process of being grateful earlier in life and not to wait. That’s one of many things that I try to instill in my students and players, for them to start this living in the moment and being very grateful for what they have.
Part of it also is the simple fact that I am very grateful for what I get to do each and every day. That is being a teacher and being a basketball coach. There are so many days that I wake up before my alarm and knowing that I have to get up in front of my students, help them, work with them, etc., is something that I don’t take lightly at all. Year after year, I have so many outstanding students that I get to work with each and every day. The current bunch of girls that I get the privilege to be around this basketball season, never ceases to amaze me. This group works so hard and they work together knowing that as a team, we have to continue to get better. My students and players teach me more than they know.
So as I finish this blog, a little bit after I started it last week, I am reminded about having a sense of gratitude as I start my day off. Of course the cup of coffee this early in the morning is one of the many things I am thankful for as it helps me to wake up and look ahead to the great day that is in store for me. I am also hopeful that I can help the people that I come into contact with have a little brighter day too. What about you? Your day today – are you finding things that you can have some gratitude for? It is really the one that is tied into so many other things in life. Spend some time today thinking about what you have in your life to be thankful for. Remember too that we don’t have to be thankful just once a year. I’m trying to connect to it more often. It seems to be helping, that’s for sure. Try it!