What are YOU thankful for this Thanksgiving?

What are YOU thankful for this Thanksgiving? I’ve decided to ask myself the same question as it relates to my extended family of friends, colleagues, clients, and fellow HR/talent acquisition professionals here on LinkedIn. The reality is I have a lot to be thankful for this year and as we are coming towards the end of 2019, I was inspired to revisit an article I originally wrote around Thanksgiving time back in 2013, with some obvious updates.

In my personal life I am thankful to be a son, husband and the father of three adults now: two sons and a beautiful daughter. My oldest is a homeowner and is doing well in his career as a healthcare consultant in revenue cycle management for a large global firm in Chicago. My middle son is an attorney with a law firm focused on real estate and is recently engaged; my daughter is a pre-school teacher in a CPS school in Chicago and is also newly engaged and set to walk down the aisle in OCTOBER 2020. To say that I am a father filled with pride does not even halfway describe my emotions. Each Thanksgiving my son Matthew suggests that we should all jot down what we are thankful for and share our lists with the extended family during our Thanksgiving holiday dinner.

As you are reflecting on what YOU can be thankful for this year, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Be thankful for some of the most obvious things; family, faith, friends, health, job (both the clients you support and the candidates you meet in the course of doing your job), the team that works with you to execute your work! This year my partner, @Bernard Layton and I along with our colleagues started @Comhar Partners I am so humbled to be surrounded by such a talented team and grateful for what the future hold for all of us!
• Be comforted by the fact that, despite the struggles we have as a nation, we still are blessed to live in the greatest country on earth. When people ask me about my political leanings I like to say that I am American, not loyal to any political party but loyal to my Country and those who strive to do the right thing for it and are not motivated by self-interests. Remember: the topic of politics doesn’t make for a great conversation during Thanksgiving!
• Look inside and recognize the gifts that you have from within. I am thankful that I can be happy, resilient, passionate, hardworking, intense, idealistic, loyal, friendly, clever, knowledgeable and a little bit irreverent.
• It would be impossible to be thankful without recognizing all of the family, loved ones, friends, and colleagues that are no longer with you, but are still very much a part of you. The people who leave this earth before us influence our daily actions and routinely remind us of who we are and what we stand for, and have a profound influence on how we live. This Thanksgiving I pray for those family and friends who have left us too soon.
• Be grateful for this past year and the chance to dream about the coming year. I would be remiss if I did not thank my wife for putting up with me for 34 years and allowing me to go through this crazy journey of starting a new business at 57, all the while going through the process of losing 100 lbs and all the trials and tribulations included in that journey. So, with 2019 coming to a close, I encourage you to give thanks for having the chance to live through it and now experience the joy of thinking about all that’s in store for 2020.

This reflection has been a great exercise for me and I would encourage you to do the same to refresh, refocus and re-energize yourself for the coming year. Give yourself the gift of reflecting upon those things for which you are most thankful and spend a few minutes to write your thoughts down. I would be thankful if you share your thoughts and reactions to this with me! Happy Thanksgiving!