A Declaration of My Gratitude

As I considered all of the things for which I’m grateful, I realized they were all people. Life is all about the people who impact us and the people whom we impact. It’s people who’ve made my life what it is.

1. I’m so very grateful for my gorgeous wife who has always supported me through the long and arduous journey that is life. Her hard work, unwavering dedication, and encouragement are what enable me to continue my journey.

2. I am grateful for my two sons. Without them, I’m not certain I’d feel this much purpose. It is for them that I am motivated to work hard and to remain hopeful for the future. Thanks to them, I now understand a very different kind of love I would have otherwise never experienced.

3. I am unbelievably grateful for my parents, their hard work, and, most importantly, their courage to be different and to seek a different path. It is because of their foresight and willingness to give up all on behalf of their children that I’ve had the opportunity to improve mine and my family’s prospects and our lives.

4. I am grateful for my late, beloved dog, Allie Baba, whose love, intelligence, and authenticity have genuinely shaped my view on life and other living creatures. She will forever be in my thoughts and will forever guide my position on and treatment of animals. I miss her so very much.

5. I am grateful for my siblings, Tamy and Maggie, with whom I’ve shared common experiences that few can relate to. It’s those experiences that bind us for life.

6. I am grateful for friends and family who’ve stuck by me through the years and who’ve supported my unique approach to life and my eccentric habits and ideologies. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand and appreciate the importance of these authentic relationships.

7. I’m sincerely grateful for my teams, those who work for me today and those who’ve worked for me in the past. It is those colleagues who’ve made it possible for me to succeed professionally. It is true that I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants and it is to them I owe so much gratitude.

8. I’m grateful for my mentors through the years starting with a professor at the University of Utah who believed in me and sponsored my admission to graduate school, and continuing to my professional mentors who gave me my first opportunity as a manager, and, finally, to those who’ve guided my critical career decisions. I am very deliberately paying it forward and multiplying your impact many-fold.

Thank you to all of you who’ve been there for me all of these years.

This piece was originally posted on Against the Herd.