day 1275: Losing to Thankfulness

"Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him."

There is a quote in the TV show, Game of Thrones, that stuck with me.  The Queen Mother says to her young son, who has just become King, that he better needs to understand the commoners. She says to him, "People not like us expect to lose important things in life."   What she was saying is that those not in royalty can find themselves living their life expecting to lose, not always holding a manifest destiny to winning.  The business world is the same.  Those on top, expect more.  Those who are struggling, smaller, and trying to keep their head above water, appreciate and look at their business differently. The front page of the New York Times business section today, reminds us of a time in Silicon Valley, 1999, when all was great and nothing could get in our way to success. We knew no risk.  We expected only the best.  And, when it went away, and we were humbled, we appreciated and became more thankful of what he had, what we had learned and what we could expect going forward. The lesson?  We need to keep ourselves in check and recognize that losing will bring greater appreciation and thankfulness, so how can we cultivate that spirit of humility and gratitude, even in the best of times?

We all get hurt. We all lose out on something we expected.  We all will get beaten down at some point in our careers and lives.  Even in the losing, we can be thankful as someone else will always be in more of a struggle than we are.  Tomorrow, and into this long weekend, let's remember the wins and the losses and see if we can't find a place of equal thankfulness.  Ours is a place to be the example of continuous thankfulness. Anything less is not giving our God His due!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Reference: Psalm 95:2 (New Living Translation)