The more I am grateful for each experience, especially the ones we label bad, the more I have to acknowledge the abundance in my life. Without experiences our lives are void of learning and growth.

When we are grateful we open up a well stream of abundance that we would not see otherwise. Time and again as I express gratitude and thanks for the life I live, my door opens to even more amazing experiences.

Here I will post thoughts of gratitude from myself and others. Thoughts that have touched my heart and soul. May they touch yours.

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Do you remember how you felt the last time you received a card with a handwritten message? Do you remember the last time you received one?

Even though I have always understood the power a handwritten note has on the recipient, it never really struck home until my fathers sudden death. It will be 3 years next month. My life, probably like yours, has always been busy. For many years I worked full time and ran a full time business besides. Social time always took a back burner. And I am ashamed to say – so did my family life. Living 7000 kms away from your family can make the disconnect easier. A phone call once a week if I wasn’t too exhausted and greeting cards on major holidays like birthdays and Christmas. Even those were often late.

As I was preparing to fly home to his funeral I found an unsent Father’s Day card on the top of my desk. Father’s day was a month before. I felt guilty that I hadn’t taken the time to even sign my name and stick it in the mail. Those feelings were nothing compared to what I would feel a few months later. We were packing up his home and in the corner of his bureau I found a neat stack of cards he had received from us (his daughters) over the years. Birthdays and Holidays. All I could think was how much bigger that stack should have been. It was such a little thing to do – send a card.

My father was a quiet, reserved man who lived a very simple life. He kept only the things he needed and never understood the need to stock up. His only indulgence was his great love of books.

These cards and notes had clearly meant the world to him.

My life is a little slower now. I still put in 12 hour days (not 16) but I take time to spend with my family and friends. I make more of an effort to stay connected with people I love and tell them as often as I can. I appreciate those connections so much more. I believe y father watches over me and guides me from a higher place.

A few months ago I found an online system that allows me to create, write and send personalized handwritten (yes, my handwriting) greeting cards. I truly believe it was my father at work that connected me to it. Now keeping in touch is as simple as sending an email. The system even mails the cards for you. It is truly a blessing for me.

By the time you are reading this article it may be too late to get a card to someone for Father’s Day, however, it’s not to late to send one to someone just because. As a way of paying it forward I have set up a number of Gift Accounts that will allow you to send a card to someone you love. The cost of the card and postage are on me.

Go to www.stayintouchwithgreetingcards.com and click on the banner with my picture to set up a Complimentary Gift Account.

This email was sent to the subscribers of Richard Brooke’s monthly newsletter in November, 2006. It is powerful, beautiful and simple. I read it when I need a reminder of what I have to be grateful for.

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday. An American tradition. The day when we, as Americans, give thanks for all we have. Thanks for the things, conditions and people we may take completely for granted the other 364 days of the year.

What I love most about Thanksgiving is the purity of it

Notice how we don’t buy each other gifts … you know, the gifts we must make sure are at least as good as the ones we think we will receive. The gifts we cannot afford. The gifts we end up paying for many months after.

Notice how it does not matter what religion we practice. Anyone can celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the holiday that celebrates diversity and inclusion. Kind of like how our forefathers envisioned us as a country.

Notice how there aren’t any goofball, make-believe characters that we have morphed into being the icon of Thanksgiving. Not even the turkey has taken on any meaning, other than food for our feast.

Gratitude is such an amazing power. Gratitude instantly reshapes our over-amped ambitions, competitiveness and rat-race mentality. Gratitude heals many wounds and every relationship when we give it a chance.

Today I am reminded of, and celebrate, those qualities of my life for which I am thankful. I share them with you here so you will perhaps make a list of your own. Carry them in your heart all year, and all your years to come are guaranteed to be more peaceful, loving and abundant.

I am thankful for:

My health … for without it, nothing else matters much.

My lover, wife and life partner Christine, who inspires in me a love like I have only imagined. She makes me want to be a better man, if you know what I mean.

My friends. You know, the ones who do not have a vested interest in any conditions; they are just my friends. Period. No matter what. Always there and always will be.

Buddy, my dog. He is more powerful than any therapist, a wonderful listener who agrees with most everything I say; and the later I come home the happier he is to see me.

My experiences. Some extraordinary. Some frightful. Some I am so happy to have out of the way so I do not have to go through them in the future. They have given me great empathy; some wisdom and fed my infinite curiosity about life and people and places.

My wealth. Which gives me so many things. Freedom to pursue my passions: Flying. Poker. Real Estate. Personal Development. Exploring. Business. Peace of mind that we will never be homeless; forced to take a meaningless job; or be in a position to not take care of each other.

My associates. So much of my freedom and peace of mind comes from the loyalty, gratitude and commitment of the people with whom I work: Sales leaders; office staff; corporate leaders and customers. I vow never to take any of them or their efforts for granted, for without them … well, I would just have to start over. No fun.

My homes. Not the sticks and stones, but the special places I have landed to call home. One of which is in one of the most extraordinary lake communities in the world … in the summer. Eat by boat. Work by boat. Golf by boat. Visit friends by boat. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is one of the wonders of the world. And our little ranch in the Yosemite area of California; a place I have been planning to live since I was about ten years old. Our home sits right on the spot. No neighbors for almost a mile. Not even on the power grid. An hour to the nearest city. Hundreds of miles of perfect Harley mountain roads.

My country. What extraordinary good fortune for most of us that we live in Canada or the US. As selfish, immature and twisted as some of our country’s leaders are, we still are the place where people die every day in an attempt to have just a chance at what most of us take for granted our whole lives. People will die this week in pursuit of this level of religious freedom; in pursuit of this economic opportunity; in pursuit of our Bill of Rights. They will give their lives attempting to cross our borders or cross an ocean to freedom. They will pay a king’s ransom and risk their lives just for a shot.

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