I am a dad of five.

I am a papa of two.

I am blessed by the love of my angel Elisa.

We have an awesome family.

We have a growing business that helps others.

We live in Cache Valley, our most beautiful place on earth.

We have a beautiful home nestled on a quiet street in Hyde Park.

We love our neighborhood.

We are blessed to be surrounded, literally and figuratively, by wonderful people who have chosen to see our potential.

Life has been incredibly good to me. And to my family.

I have much to be thankful for.

It’s natural to feel gratitude when we truly have been given much. But what if we haven’t been given much, especially this year when there have been so many trials and so much has been literally taken away.

Like many of you, we have also experienced challenges and losses this year. Family members have been sick with covid, one who was in a coma for several months. We have felt the negative impact of not connecting with people, especially the physical connections of handshakes and hugs. We also felt financial loss as business revenues dropped drastically at the onset of the pandemic.

Though our trials have been different than yours, we understand what some of you may be feeling. We know life has not been easy.

Yet, even with all our challenges, we have still been greatly blessed and still have much to be grateful for.

We are overall healthy. We have found ways to connect with people, including through technology such as this. We have been blessed to pivot and adjust as a business and grow our resources in ways we hadn’t anticipated at the beginning of the year.

I have much to be thankful for, even in 2020.

I know what it’s like to do without. To be poor, hungry and cold. To wear hand-me-downs that had already been handed down a time or two.

I have been lonely, walking the halls and sidewalks of life invisible to the masses of surrounding people.

I know the ache of discouragement, disappointment, and being depressed.

I have been afraid.

Yet, even in the challenges of life, there is much I choose to be thankful for.

I have witnessed the rising of a brilliant sun following an extra dark night.

I’ve been lifted by extended hands of love, like Peter of old, from the depths of raging seas.

I have been cured of cancer, and found freedoms from other maladies.

I have been rescued.

Once from the swift-running waters of the Escalante River, and many times from the swift-running currents of life.

I have much to enjoy in life.

The sting of death is real.

I felt the last breath of life leave a beautiful teenager as my efforts failed to free her from the twisted metal of a head-on collision.

I have felt life leave and life created.

The death of parents created a void that will never quite be the same.

My brother Shane who was killed by suicide still hurts.

A lot.

I have much to enjoy in life, and even when death shows up.

I have tilled the rich soil of life, planted and sowed, reaped a bounteous harvest.

I have stood with brothers in arms amidst the quagmire of combat, where heroes proved their country they love.

I have seen the ugliness of brutality replaced by the kindness of acceptance.

I have discovered the beauty of creating a new story of GREATNESS.

For myself, and for others.

I get to write those stories, speak them to life, teach the concepts.

I have been blessed to be part of the journey of those who are also creating their own story of GREATNESS.

I have much to enjoy creating stories of GREATNESS.

I leave you with this little gem…

#GIVETHANKS
By Les Patterson

One is lifted up
When giving thanks
Merely by extending
Gratitude for others
Mending hearts broken
Lightening loads heavy
Softening arrogance
Nurturing souls
Love abides
When giving thanks

May your Thanksgiving be blessed to #GiveThanks.

Have a great Monday! Thanks for letting me share.

Les

p.s. Take 13 minutes today to simply #GiveThanks.

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Check out last week’s Red Edge Live conversation with Julie Lee, author of the incredible book “I See You – How Compassion and Connection Save Lives.”

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