Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (here in the States) so today I am writing about what I am thankful for in 2010. Tomorrow I’ll address how I am handling giving back at this point in my life.
I’m thankful for
Health – Everyone in my immediate and extended family is basically healthy right now. Because I’ve witnessed chronic illness in my own family and watched friends battle with it as well, I have come to appreciate how precious our health is.
This Blog – Somewhere in the last year of so of writing I found me. Not that my life was awful before but I’ve come to understand that for periods of time I was existing instead of living. Never again, each day is precious and my work while wonderful is not the be all and end all for me anymore.
Family – My wife, children, siblings, mother and all the rest of you. We are about as close as you get to having a perfect family and all darn lucky to have each other. (Others in this list may wish to exclude the author from inclusion and I’m OK with that.)
Social Media – Not the tools the relationships. In five years time Twitter and Facebook may be where MySpace is today. In the last year, however, the circle of people I feel closest to (with the exception of family) has changed dramatically. I met most (if not all of you) because of social media. So, the tools may change the way we connect but rest assured we will stay connected.
All of you – who read this blog, comment on this blog, interact and engage with me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and wherever else we may meet online or offline. You are my network and without you….well, I wouldn’t have a network of amazing folks to call on when I need help and to offer up my assistance to when I can.
Nerds becoming the new cool – In my view, nerds (like me) don’t care which tools you give us. We will figure out how to make them work together to achieve a desired outcome. Knowing the difference between in Android phone, an iPhone, and a Blackberry is useful. Knowing how to apply each of those devices to solve a problem is nerdy. Long live the nerds.
I could go on and on but instead I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and ask that you add one item to the above list via the comments below. I would be eternally thankful (pun intended).
You forgot Klout, jimmeh. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving, and it’s been great to be able to count you as a friend in the last year.
Mark,
I’m so glad you left a comment because I hear Klout will soon be including blog comments in our klout scores! All kidding aside, you sir are one of the people I pictured when writing the “Social Media” section. Honored to call you a friend Mark.
-Jim
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Mr. Raffel! I am thankful to have a home and I’m thankful for the survival skills my parents gave me to carry on once they were gone. I am truly blessed. 🙂
Thank you and a Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. I just discovered your blog and see our Father’s both served in WWII. Not sure if you caught my post about him back on the 14th but there is that one and a few more from two years ago when we lost him. It’s still strange at Mom’s when he’s not there to carve the Turkey.
-Jim
Happy Thanksgiving Jim! I’m thankful to have met you this year! And thankful for your inspiration!
Hi Jess,
Thank you – somedays my inspiration comes from comments like yours. (You know those days I don’t feel very inspired myself). So, please know comments like this are both appreciated and valued – perhaps even more than you know.
-Jim