Every time this year, like most people, I always take stock in what I’m grateful for…my family, my friends, my health, my life, so on and so forth.  But this year, with the passing of two co-workers and a couple of family members and a health scare, I am truly appreciative for what I have.

 Every day leading up to Thanksgiving, I’ve been taking stock in what I have and the people who are around me and have never been more cognizant and content with my place in life.  There are just days when I can’t help but stop myself in my tracks and smile.

 On days like this I always think “Nothing could be more perfect in my life right now.  If I could just somehow stop time and live in this moment forever, I’d be totally ecstatic.”  A sense of overwhelming joy consumes me and thank God for giving me this occasion to feel this way.

 When I was younger, I often took for granted a lot of things in my life and somehow lost sight of what it really meant to be thankful for what I had around me.  It was all about “me” and the mere fact that I had many more years ahead just made me concentrate on what might be instead of what might come to pass.

 But if I hadn’t had all those missed opportunities, mistakes and regrets then I wouldn’t come to the self-realization of how lucky I am in life. Like that saying goes, “With age, comes wisdom.”  And I learned that I needed to enjoy the here and now, accept where I am in life and recognize the people around me that where steadfast in everything I did.

Because of my newfound outlook on life, I preach to my children everyday on acknowledging what they have, to try and not be cavalier on thinking that you have all the time in the world.  Time is a commodity that needs to be relished with respect and without regrets.