Time To Give Thanks!

Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Emmanuelle Archer in Blog, Musings & Inspiration
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Thanksgiving celebrations have been going strong all weekend in Canada. I celebrated yesterday with a group of expat friends, but between the lively conversation and the impressive spread of dishes from all over the world, we never got around to giving thanks.

So today, on the official holiday, I would like to take time to remember how much I have to be thankful for.

The great people in my life

Where to begin? I am surrounded by so many good people it’s almost ridiculous.

• My partner, who is one of the most intelligent, reliable, kindest men I’ve ever known
• My friends – new and old, far and near – who are upstanding, creative, fun-loving individuals
• My business advisors and peers, who are dedicated, generous and genuinely supportive
• Last but certainly not least, my clients who – like most expats I know – are strong, resourceful, always willing to learn and all-around gosh darn inspiring people. It is a blessing to work with individuals you truly like, and I am deeply thankful for all the great people I’ve met through my work.

A sense of place

As a fellow expat, I know you’ll understand how much it means to me to have found my place in life. Professionally, spiritually and geographically. My adopted city, Vancouver, BC, deeply feels like home, much more so than my official hometown in France ever did.

For a semi-nomad like myself who moved more than ten times in her twenties, that means a lot (I initially wrote “it means the world to me”, but I have decided that holiday posts shall henceforth be free of bad puns. Bad punnery can resume on Wednesday. We will see how long this resolution holds – I make no guarantees).

Growth

The growth. Oh, the growth! Frankly, it’s been a little crazy this year. But I am thankful for all of it, even when it felt hard and painful.

Not that I’m complaining – most of it was mind-blowingly good. Like learning how to ask for help. And learning how to receive it, instead of consistently choosing the hard, exhausting, “dutiful” way. Come to think of it, this is one of the first years of my working life when the threat of burnout has (mostly) been kept at bay. Now that’s something to be thankful for!

Also, choosing to say yes to more things that sound like fun – parties, road trips, new hobbies, what have you. At the same time, listening more closely to my body so that I know when to rest and when to take time for myself. I guess all this has to do with having clearer boundaries. I am really thankful for that too.

Healing some family issues was a big theme this year. It’s been awkward, painful, cringe-inducing at times. But it was time to deal with that ever-looming tangled mess. I’ve written before about the necessity of being at peace with your past if you want to be content with the present. It was time to walk my talk. So we’re untangling, a little bit at a time. It’s going great. Everything feels healthier, not to mention much lighter too. So thankful for that one!

Then there was the kind of growth that only comes about when hard, painful stuff happens. Losing a close friend to cancer back in March definitely falls under this heading. What I know today about fear, acceptance and life transitions, I owe to our last few moments together. So I am reverently thankful for that. And for the fact that the excruciating physical pain he had to live with is now over.

Oh, and let’s not forget about mistakes, failures and just plain bad decision-making. They’re the shortest path to growth… if you’re willing to face them honestly, instead of sweeping them under the rug. I think I’ve gotten better at letting myself make mistakes (that is, experimenting more and taking more risks, even if it means that I may fail), assessing said mistakes without beating myself up (which is how I would avoid looking at them too closely), and hopefully learning something in the process.

The 2009 award in this category goes to my failing to deal with a web designer who was not a good match for my company at all. Why I let this situation drag on for so long, I have no idea. All I know is that I wasted a lot of time, energy, and ultimately money when I had to hire another designer to redo the project.

However, during this period I learned ten times more about blogging, social media and online-based business than I would have otherwise, since I had to do a lot of research on my own. So that’s really good. And because that was a pretty big and costly mistake, I can assure you that next time I find myself in that situation, it will be dealt with swiftly and firmly – as Alice Cooper would say, No More Mr. Nice Guy, although I doubt that he had web designers in mind when he wrote this song…

Wow, this ended up much longer than I intended – sorry about that! But what can I say? There’s a lot to be thankful for!

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Emmanuelle

Image by KisforCalligraphy (top), Olive Talique (middle) and Creativity+, all via Flickr Creative Commons