An Early Thanksgiving Message

I know many of you will be travelling for Thanksgiving next week so I thought I'd write my Thanksgiving message a bit early.  Let's start by wishing you and your loved ones a great Thanksgiving as you recount your blessings with joy.  

It's hard to believe but we often don't recognize what we have to be thankful for, until it is almost taken away.  Twenty months ago I was diagnosed with a "slow moving" prostate cancer.   By last Thanksgiving it had accelerated and treatments were scheduled to begin after the first of the year. I was concerned but not fearful as I had been diligent about screening.  In January I began treatments with injections that made me irritable, lethargic, exhausted and sleep deprived.  Radiation started in April and the regimen was daily until June.   It exacerbated the side effects of the earlier treatments and I thought that it would never be over.

During this time I worked daily (most days actually) but often went home early due to exhaustion.   I know that my productivity suffered, that I wasn't pleasant to be around and my family suffered with me.  All treatments ended in June and my first follow up was in July and my prognosis was good.  My Thanksgiving present was a blood test that I think reflects good results again but I will know for sure when I visit the Doctor on Monday.  Since August I have been slowly returning to normal; working out regularly, losing weight, being productive at work and regaining my cheer.   

This year I will be celebrating my ability to go to the gym, be productive at work and be a good husband, father and employee.  My boss has become a close friend and while I have appreciated his leadership and friendship I recognize that I never grasped how thankful that I should be.  I actually have Thanksgiving daily at this point for some of the things that I have noted and many more.  I wake up with a smile and try to take the time to revisit everything that I have to be thankful for.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  

The Week In Review

Friday is usually a day where I spend some time to survey what happened during the week, things that are important and other things that I found interesting.  Here are some random thoughts. 

Church on Sunday focused on Hebrews 12:14 "Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord."  This was pretty convicting for me.  I have a tendency to be sarcastic.  Is that an action that is in alignment with finding peace with everyone?  Probably not, much like anger, ego and resentment, all that I can better manage. 

I read a social media post by Harvey Mackay noting that 60% of high school students admit to cheating, 52% of employees admit to theft of office supplies and 43% of sore merchandise losses are due to employee theft.  Pretty disturbing. 

In working with a client this week my contact became upset because I was not "respecting their process."  That process works fine.  The issue is procrastination and lack of communication.  It is tough to recruit and hire in today's market with employee shortages.  A clearly defined process with timely action and clear communications is expected by those that you are considering hiring.  

CNN reported that companies are rushing to implement robots into their workforce with orders of 29,000 being placed through September.  That is a 37% increase vs 2020.  The shortage of staff won't last forever but the use of robots will.  Make sure that you are always improving your skills/knowledge so that you can't be replaced by technology.  

That's it for the week!  Enjoy the weekend!