As you read this you may be enjoying or may be back at work from the long Thanksgiving weekend. By far, this holiday is my favorite. After all, if we take the time to make a list of all the things we are grateful for it would take all day. Well, isn’t that the purpose of the holiday? As part of my holiday tradition, I would like to share with you an event that occurred a few years ago that I personally observed that puts gratitude into perspective.
The Monday before Thanksgiving I was given one of the most incredible demonstrations of gratitude I have ever seen. Many mornings I would swim at a local recreation center. There are always several older gentlemen swapping ailment stories. You know the drill, one says he went to the doctor today and the doc found more things wrong, another responds with a list of his ailments, a third chimes in with his complaints of pains and stiffness. Finally, a man sitting on a bench says softly with a grin, "yes but at least I have a leg to stand on."
He then hoists himself up, pivoting on his right leg to get into his wheelchair with his left leg amputated just above the knee. Without fanfare, he rolls himself out to the pool to swim.
Nuff said!
Sincerely in gratitude.
Russell Lookadoo is the HR Guy for small businesses. His firm, HRchitecture, specializes in helping business leaders accomplish their goals by effectively using their teams. Russell brings three decades of experience designing Human Resources solutions that achieve business strategies in varied organizations ranging from a small manufacturer to the nation’s second largest bank.
Russell holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from the Society of Human Resources Management and earned the Certified Compensation Professional designation from World at Work. Russell attended the University of North Carolina on the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Industrial Relations. Visit his website at www.theHRGuy.biz