This is the 5th day that I have sent these out and I am starting to feel the changes in my own life as I focus on what I am grateful for rather than what I don't have enough of. People are starting to respond by sharing their own thoughts of what they're thankful for and forwarding to others in their circle of family and friends.
Some of you on this list I haven't spoken to in over 2 years, when I was an Account Executive for a mortgage lender. It's so good to hear from you, to know that you are indeed breathing and to hear about all the ways you are helping others. Thank you so much for sharing this message and passing it on and adding your own thoughts and list of gratitude.
Today I am going to share a poem that was forwarded to me that demonstrates the beauty of the same message that I am trying to convey. I will place it below my list of gratitude and ask that if you haven't found a soldier to write to yet, perhaps you can share your gratitude with this soldier and mail him a letter.
What I am grateful for today:
I am grateful to be so encouraged by others. I know just as many people as you do who have lost their homes. What keeps them from sinking their head in the sand like an ostrich and not wanting to face the mountain of financial responsibility that is sliding toward them? Where does the strength come from to get up every morning and do it all again? To try something else... We have all faced this to some degree. Sometimes it only takes one hand up. A job, a referral, a different outlook. Thank you for encouraging me. It allows me to pay that forward.
I am grateful because this morning I liquidated the last of my retirement funds. This gives me another month to seek out opportunities and still be able to pay my bills. How many others never even had this luxury? I was fortunate to have saved for a rainy day. Even though the skies are bright blue today, I know the rain is coming tomorrow. I have shelter, a home, food to nourish me and a lot of work to do. I will do so with a smile on my face!
I am grateful for the laughter I hear. Whether it's coming from the television, radio or a group of teenagers hanging out at the mall, it's joyous and uplifting. That sound stays with me for moments afterwards and recharges me, forcing my mouth up into a grin of mirth. The peels and snorts create bubbles of giggles within me and charges my whole body.
I am grateful for movement. I wake up sore and achy just like everyone else over 40. A funny thing happens as I start to stretch and move, the pain dissipates. The muscles are woken up and ready to comply with my instruction. Think of what it would be like if the opposite were true.
I am grateful for hot water! I can take hot showers, soak in a hot bath, place my cold hands under the running tap and even take coaching calls from the jacuzzi.
I am grateful because I have been given life skills. I am in my prime, have experienced darkness and delight, understand the focus it takes to create what I want and the wisdom and depth to create it.
I am grateful to drive a really cool SUV. The bright copper color matches my toenail polish and allows me to stand out among many. The leather seats support my back and can warm it at the same time. I may have to give it up and drive Dewey's jeep, but that's okay, how cool will I look climbing out of a lifted, muddy, four wheel'n symbol of fun? At least I am not riding a bicycle like the immigrant who just came down the hill looking for work.
I am grateful to all the coaching clients I have. By discovering the pain of staying the same and transforming that habit into possibilities and beginnings you force me to say out loud just what I need to hear. As I coach you, I take the steps to discover my own rewards. We work on relationships, weight, time management and business goals. We travel the dark road and traverse the obstacles together.
I am grateful for all the ways I have of communicating. I have the internet, a cell phone, a land line, and a fax. There is e-mail, blogs, facebook, twitter and skype. I can talk to a stranger, write to a soldier and smile at a homeless person holding a sign.
I am grateful for the sounds of the Marines as they practice in what feels like my background. The repercussion of the strong artillery that blows up the earth and resonates down to my toes is reassuring. I know that I am safe. Protected.
A Different Christmas Poem:
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people
as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe.
Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed
themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq .
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