Business life: My finance news blog

Continuing a Thanksgiving tradition, every year I ask our staff what they’re thankful for, excluding family, friends and good health — none of which we ever should take for granted, but too often do.

Here’s what they said this year, with a few items from me thrown in for good measure.

• Mentors. Each year I try to learn from people. It could be co-workers, business relationships, friends or family. Having a mentor has helped me be a better salesperson and has helped me in personal and business relationships.

• Mistakes. You can learn from other people’s mistakes and your own. Making mistakes in life is natural and makes people even stronger if they learn from them.

• People who admit their mistakes. This is mine, and I’ll give you an example. In last week’s column, I misspelled the name of Rebecca Kenyon, a local woman who tried out for and made a pro football team here. No excuses. Stupid mistake.

• Is it too corny to say I am thankful for my job? I think of all those people at the Tribune who will be facing some tough times this holiday season. I really am thankful to be a part of a well-respected publication — my home away from home.

• I am thankful that it looks like a buyer may have been found for the Tribune after all, hopefully saving at least some of those jobs.

• For all the trials and tribulations that have come my way. It has caused me to learn that we all have two choices: We either pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make it through and become much stronger people, or we sit and wallow in self-pity and ask “Why me?” When we choose to push through whatever may happen in our lives, it gives us a better perspective of what life is really all about and how we need to focus on the present moment.

• Giving back and having compassion for people less fortunate. Whether it be monetary or hands-on support. Working with and seeing businesses and people who help the less fortunate has made me more aware that I need to give back more. Giving back to our community is something we all should be doing — not only during the holidays, but during the entire year.

• For the medical industry — particularly the nursing profession. … Health care workers are in the trenches every day taking care of people we love, and they truly are the unsung heroes of our community.

• The things I am grateful for this year are things in previous years I have taken for granted, probably along with many others. Seeing that this economy is so bad and a lot of people are losing their homes and jobs, I am extremely grateful for my job, for having a roof over my head and food on the table every night for my family and me.

• And all of us here at the Business Journal are thankful for you, our readers. We appreciate your continued support and feedback. We all have lots of things to be thankful for, and may we remember to think about them a lot more often in the year ahead.

Don Henninger can be reached at dhenninger@bizjournals.com.

Source