While recently sitting at my mother’s kitchen table in Tucson, Arizona, I was overcome with gratitude and wanted to share some of my thoughts as a way of saying thank you.
A few weeks ago, you were likely bombarded with emails and ads promoting Black Friday sales, Flash Sales, Limited-Time-Only sales, and so forth (and it’s just the beginning of what’s to come…).
I don’t judge that, but I won’t be offering you anything today except gratitude.
Thanksgiving week is always a very powerful week for me, and this last one was no exception. That’s why I take most of the week away from my business and travel to Tucson, where I was born and raised, to be with family.
As I celebrated Thanksgiving… I took a lot of time to reflect on the past year. I also reflected on what I’m grateful for.
Today, I’m sharing a different kind of blog. One that is simply an opportunity for you to get to know me better – and hopefully, I can get to know you better as well.
I’d like to share some reflections that came up for me during this most recent Thanksgiving (then, I’d like to see if you’d share any with me).
- I think about how grateful I am for my body. Oh, how we take that for granted! Today, I want to give you a gift. It’s a passage from the book The Greatest Miracle in the World. It is one of the most profound, life-altering, tear-causing, meaningful chapters I’ve ever read in a book. It’s called the God Memorandum, and you can read it now here. I can’t think of a better gift I could offer you today.
- I think about all of the people who feel lonely. Perhaps you just lost a family member, or you don’t have a lot of friends, or you are disconnected from family. We just can’t take anything for granted. We need to reach out to others and offer them the opportunity to be a part of our family. We need to feel compassion and remember life isn’t greener on the other side. Who could you reach out to today and offer the gift of your friendship? Who could you make feel “seen” today?
- I think about random acts of kindness. Buying a coffee for someone behind you in line, starting up a conversation with a stranger, ordering a meaningful book for a friend, sending a thank you card to a loved one…there is no shortage of opportunities to step outside of “your world” and offer kindness to others. Gosh, we all need that random kindness so much. No one is exempt from that need.
- I think about the incalculable value of time. There is no time to waste. A family member passed away two days ago, and the same day, my dad had a “close call” as well. I could share many other examples just in the past month about how life can change in a blink. Don’t wait to forgive, don’t wait to love, don’t wait to start that business, don’t wait to do the things you think about all day. Please, don’t wait…
- I think about fear and doubt and guilt. We give WAY, WAY too much power to these three feelings. When will enough be enough?
- I think about the power of community. I think about the power of knowing yourself and being proud of who you are and how you show up in the world. Both are relevant this week as a stranger named “Tony” was very publicly critical of me. You can read the story here. I was blessed to receive his criticism (yes, you read that correctly). It reminded me of my strength and my intention, and it showed me how deeply people care about me. Wow, what a gift.
- I think about my OVERWHELMING gratitude for my company NGNG. A 24-year-old girl took a chance. She bought the domain name ngngenterprises.com and threw up an awful-looking blog. She wrote about whatever came to mind. She trusted. She worked hard. She hired Joni and Ian to help her build websites. People were interested. One thing led to another, and the most incredible team that could be created was created. One thing led to another again, and heart-centered, incredible individuals from all over the world wanted their services. Today… I can’t believe the feedback that keeps pouring in – from the team and clients. Today, I am grateful for Joni, Shannon, Jill, Keri, Wayne, Carol, Brittany, Casey, Richard, Erin, Beth, and Ashley. We are all a part of something truly profound. What a blessing…
I could go on and on and on about the reflections I am having … all of the many things I’m grateful for. It’s important to share.
This post isn’t “for me.” I took time away from family “for you” today. I am hoping to make an impact. I wanted to connect with you and hear from you. I want to know what’s happening in your world because we’re in this together.
Do you have a few minutes to comment below and share with me what you’re grateful for, or what you’re thinking about this week?
I hope to learn a little more about you…..and what makes you fill up with gratitude.
xo
Amber Vilhauer
