Being thankful important, even during tough times

Today, as we look around us, we see many things that have hit families and individuals that we know. Job loss and financial issues are just a few things that we are seeing in our world today. The pressure that puts on all of us can tend to send us down thinking we have nothing we can be thankful for. In tough times, we can all feel like nothing is going our way. Have you been there? Sure, we all have at some point in our life.

One thing I know that I must keep in front of those I lead is to make sure I spend time talking about what we have to be thankful for. Bad news breeds bad feelings, and then those thoughts turn from positive to negative, which in turn pull the team down.

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving Thursday, it may be a good time to re-evaluate the things we have to be thankful for. If you have a job, that would be a great place to start. Next, it may be the ability you and I have each day to get out of bed and walk. We have our health. What about our family . . . what would we do without their support? Just those few things are enough for all of us to think about and to be thankful for.

Tomorrow, no matter what issues you face, be thankful. Together with your friends and family, let's focus on what we have. And let's refresh our values to be thankful and grateful, if for nothing else, then just for the breath of life we have been given for today and the freedom we have in this great country we live in.

Inspire me: "Happiness consists more in small connivances or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life." - Benjamin Franklin

Russell H. Helwig is an inspirational speaker. He is the author of the book "Leadership Below the Surface." He can be reached at 623-334-1641 or at russ@inspireandlead.com. His Web site is www.inspireandlead.com.