Gratitude and Recollection

When I think back to how I got to wherever I may be today, I see a lot of paths that have been taken.

I see a schoolboy who was incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful education at an amazing school that accepted children for brains as well as financial clout.

I see a teenager at high school who was able to choose the subjects he liked, as opposed to the subjects his parents thought he should take or his teachers wanted him to take.

I see a young man that left home at 19 and moved hundreds of miles away from his family to start a career path that would lead him to this place, right here, right now.

I see the moments that changed his life, and led him to another country, another continent, and have the support to be who he wants to be.

In short, I see a lot of good fortune and encouragement.

But I also see one overarching reason for anything that has happened, and anything that will – the power of freedom.

Freedom to make the choices that shape me and the lives of those around me, whether they be right choices or otherwise.

Freedom to live lives that we choose to live as opposed to lives that would be chosen for us.

Freedom to disagree, and be disagreed with.

Simply put, freedom to be.

And for that freedom, I’m forever grateful to the men and women who went before me and are braver than I ever could be to make my life, and yours, the ones we choose them to be.

November 11 is a day to remember, and offer gratitude for those that went before. Take the time to reflect, and thank, and acknowledge.

They earned it.

image: Jim Nix

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