Thanksgiving week, a week to be thankful for everything we have been blessed with, including...everything. I've seen a few people this year post on Facebook, each day of November, something different they are thankful for. Family, Friends, Job, Children, Shelter, Food all the good stuff. The easy stuff to figure out. What about the hard stuff, what about the stuff that we don't understand, the stuff we wish wasn't happening, can you find a way to be thankful for it? It's not easy and it might take time, but these are the things that make us who we are, shape our view of the world, shape our passions and purposes.
Throughout this marathon of life we are thrown detours and roadblocks, some are easy to see coming and we easily maneuver around them, like the telemarketer call we ignore every night. Others we have to face head on and run right through them like that job search that keeps throwing out rejections. And there are some that we have to put on our backs and carry them with us for a long time, maybe even forever. These might come in the form of sicknesses, deaths, divorces, or addictions. When we are in midst of any of these we may feel like there isn't a light anywhere to be seen. Yet there always is. There is always a way through.
When I got married, I left a job to move to New York City. My wife just finished grad school and wanted to fulfill a dream of living in New York. I figured I could easily get a teaching job in North Jersey or New York. I was incorrect, I couldn't find a job teaching anywhere. I was unemployed for about two months, not an eternity, but it was stressful not knowing where money was going to come from. When I finally landed a job, I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. I landed a job in business to business sales for a company called World Wide Express. I got to work with some really talented people who taught me a lot about being a professional and not accepting less than my best. This provided me with a ton of value throughout my life. It allowed me to get away from education for a season and when I returned I was better for it.
Last year my family was faced with a number of deaths, 3 actually. Two close friends (one a young mom Mary Beth, in my wife's inner circle of friends and one a friend of mine, Joe, I look up to like a mentor) and a family member (my wife's younger brother Josh) . These events are harder to work through and figure out how to be thankful. I am thankful for the time I had with each of these three people. Thankful for the things my wife and I learned from them. I know the events of the last 13 months have shaped my passion to share this message with more people. My desire is to continue to share the message of being "About a Different Life" and use that to reach as many people as I can. My vision for how I see my life impacting other people's lives is bigger than it ever has been and I'm thankful for that.
One of the five keys to avoiding average I share is to enjoy failure. It is these tough times that shape our lives. It is these times we wonder, most, why we shouldn't walk through the wide gate, down the easy road with everyone else. I know this, on the other side of the obstacle there is something special. You might not see it today, but keep your eyes open and keep walking through the Narrow Gate.
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