Good morning,
This letter has nothing do to with business. I simply want to share a thought that struck me today.
None of us Know…
None of us know how many more Christmases (or whatever you might celebrate this time of year) we will be around to celebrate.
So Many Leave So Soon…
Years ago, my dad (the best dad one could ever hope to have) didn’t know at the age of 48 his time to celebrate Christmas had come to an end (he died the day before my 5th birthday, about a month before Christmas).
None of us knew that a few short years later, Timothy, the first (and only) cousin of mine, Ronnie would be taken from us at the age of 26 in the blink-of-an-eye in a car crash.
Four years ago, I didn’t know my best dog-pal ever, “Tricycle” would be there one day and four days later succumb to a disease I never knew existed.
They Meant the World to Me, and yet…
They all meant the world to me, and yet, when they were in my life I took them for granted and rarely took the time to let them know how much they meant to me.
For me, hardly a day goes by where I don’t wish I had that one more chance to do that with all of those living, breathing “gifts” I no longer have in my life and there is no way to get that one last chance back.
Material Presents or Material Presence?
I didn’t mean to be morbid, but it struck me this time of year the focus is on material “presents” and we overlook the gifts that we are truly blessed with, the living, breathing gifts who make our lives what they are by virtue of their material presence in our lives.
In the “Material” Sense, 2011 “Stunk”.
In the typical “material” sense, 2011 wasn’t a great year for so many of us around the world and quite possibly the typical material presents will be nowhere near what they may have been in the past. Sure I made money trading, but it was nowhere near the gains made in other years.
The Gift that Costs Nothing and Means Everything.
But, unless you have lost any of your most important gifts of the living, breathing kind (the true gifts that can never be replaced); you still have the chance to give them a gift that is priceless.
You can hold them near at this time of year, dig down deep and tell them what they mean to you and let them know what your life would be without them.
Doing so is a gift that costs nothing and means everything.
Don’t Take Their Presence for Granted.
Don’t take their presence for granted, because I can tell you first hand, you never know if this Christmas will turn out to be the last chance you will have to do so with any one of them.
On Behalf of the Greatest Team.
On behalf of the greatest team of living, breathing “gifts” I have ever had the pleasure of working with, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
(And, to the best wife a man could ever hope to have, Mary, I love you more than you will ever know.)
Merry Christmas, everyone,
Big A
P.S – If upon reading this you think you will find it hard to tell those around you how much they mean to you (my dad was like that), feel free to take any part of my message as your own, or forward it to them and tell them you were thinking of them when you read it. They’ll “get it” (but it would have a far greater impact if you said it out loud, to their face, while holding giving them a hug.)