It’s been 20 years since I finished university. Time flies! Since then I’ve had a wonderful career. It came with ups and downs that made me so much stronger than I ever expected. The massive recession in 2008-09 forced me out of work for a while (like so many others) and eventually forced me to change my field altogether. I never imagined a different career path. It turns out that life led me down a wonderful path and in hindsight I wouldn’t change a thing!

All  said, I’m grateful for all the experiences life offered me during my career over the last 20 years. These include:

– Meeting so many wonderful people! I still have friends from each job I worked at. They are wonderful people!

– I learned so much from many smart people! Nick, Nick M., Peter, John, Matt, Warren, Mike, Tommi, Marc, and so many more. These leaders have taught me many invaluable lessons about hard work, working smart, navigating politics, being good to people, trust, encouragement, people skills and leadership skills. Thank you everyone!

– I’ve triumphed and at times felt ignored and passed up for promotions. However, I’ve learned valuable lessons from all experiences! I’m so grateful for them! They have made me stronger, a lot stronger!

– Since entering the workforce 20 years ago I’ve worked at 6 different companies. I’m INSANELY grateful to the people that decided to hire me over the other candidates. It means so much to me!!! I often prayed to get these jobs during the hiring process and everytime I got hired I was so happy to get them. Today, I’m re-experiencing/feeling the joy for having gotten each one!

– Each time I left a job (the first 3 were due to mass layoffs), I felt really sad to leave so many good people behind. Yet, I’m happy that I met them and that so many are still part of my life today!

I very grateful for a wonderful career! Looking forward to the next 20 years! :)

I am so grateful for having my wife in my life.

– She is very loving! I’m lucky because she cares about me! She wants me to be happy. She helps me a lot when I need it. She supports me with major decisions that need to be made. She trusts me! She reminds me I’m worthwhile and smart!

– She’s an amazing mother to our children. She does so much for them! She helps them with their homework, takes care of keeping up with their school activities, cooks for them, does their laundry, makes their doctor appointments, organizes playdates, entertains them and most importantly loves them to no end.

– She is very smart! She likes helping other people when they are in need including our friends, neighbors and people within the community.

– She’s a great daughter to her parents and daughter-in-law to my parents. She cares for them a lot.

– She’s outgoing sometimes and this has helped bring new friends into our lives, that we would not have met otherwise if it were left up to me.

– She takes action. Many times we’re faced with decisions and I have dragged my feet. Thanks to her, she will take action knowing that we can’t waste more time. Things usually work out when she does.

– She is reliable. When she says she is going to do something I can count on her to get it done. I think this is the trait I previously have taken the granted the most.

– We’ve been together 20 years! They have been wonderful. I’m really grateful for our time together. She makes me happy!

Thank you Angela!

I belong to a Toastmasters club. For those of you who don’t know, people join Toastmasters to practice public speaking and leadership skills.

I am so grateful for this organization and my club in particular because:

– I’ve met some of the nicest and most supportive people I know there. I cannot emphasize this point enough!

– The more experienced Toastmasters continue to attend club meetings in order to give back to the community and help others improve by offering feedback, advice and support.

– Both my public speaking and leadership skills have improved significantly since I joined the club. The benefits are huge and have impacted my personal and professional life.

– I get to help other people too and this is probably one of the most rewarding parts of it!

– It’s a place to hang out on Tuesday evenings.

– We have a lot of fun at club meetings and at events that we organize together.

Toastmasters has changed my life! I’m looking forward to many more years with this wonderful organization, conquering new challenges, personal growth and helping others.

Thank you.

I’m so grateful for good health!

My wife, myself and our 2 girls are all in good health. These means the world to us! With good health we can enjoy life to the fullest, go to school, go to work and most importantly be happy.

I used to take good health for granted. However, I’ve now realized that this is the most important thing in life along with love.

My dad has had a rocky road this year, however I now know that things are turning around. His tests on September 27 will show that he does not have cancer and that he is doing fine. His road to recovery is going great!

I’m very grateful that my brother and sister are also in great health!

I’m also very grateful that my in-laws are enjoying good health too!

Thank you for allowing us to remain healthy!

We had an offsite meeting with our colleagues yesterday. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It ended up being very informative, fun and we had time to bond together. I’m grateful for getting the chance to get to know my colleagues better. They are really good people who are passionate about our work and product. It’s fun working with people who care so much.

I’m also grateful for the opportunity to participate in the activities yesterday, it felt very engaging.

I’m excited for what the future holds for this group! I’m also excited because I know that today will be another great day!

Thank you!

I’m grateful for our really friendly neighbors. Here’s why:

Our kids all really get along together. They play outside very often now. They hop from one house to the next to play play play. It makes me so happy for them to have these great friends.

My wife and I get along with their parents. We help each other out, we see each other every day at the bus stop. The Dad’s Club! As a result, we’ve gotten to know each other quite well. We’ve all been to each other’s houses multiple times and we have a great time together.

In fact we had all of them over last night at our place. I somehow knew it was going to happen too. My wife spontaneously invited them when I wasn’t around. Once again, we all had a blast!

Funny enough, it turns out that one of them grew up near me and we discovered we had many friends in common and have probably been to the same parties back when we were teenagers. Haha fun times.

Thank you!

I love our backyard! Having a yard is one of the reasons we chose to live in the suburbs.

I write this post as I sit in our hammock under a tree. It is so nice and peaceful!

I’m grateful that we can sit back here and relax.

I love that there’s enough room in here for our kids to play with their friends.

I love hearing the birds chirp and watching the squirrels play together.

I’m so grateful for having a nice deck to sit on and relax. We host friends and family here from time to time. It’s big enough to fit everyone. We chat, drink and have fun, especially at our kids birthday parties!

I’m happy the sun shines in our yard in the morning, afternoon and evening! Our trees provide just enough coverage in case it gets too hot.

The yard is big enough that we’ll still be able to add an extension on the house plus a pool and still have some room to relax outside.

I love our lawn. For some reason it has very few weeds (this is important to me) and looks lush.

We have a shed that I’m grateful for too. Otherwise we’d have to store everything in the garage. By having the shed, we can keep our garage clean and park one car inside it during the winter…which is really amazing!

I love the trees we have back here. They are beautiful!

I’m grateful for having our fence since it provides privacy. Also when the girls play soccer and other sports the fence stops the balls from going into our neighbors’ yards.

I’m grateful for our heatpump which is in the backyard. She ain’t beautiful but at least it keeps our house cool in the summer and warm in the winter!

I love the little sandbox we have. Our kids haven’t used it this summer, but it reminds of when they were smaller and they used it a lot more often. The same goes for the spiderweb gym. I love seeing them play on it with their friends.

I’m grateful for this backyard. Having it means so much to me!

Thank you

I am very grateful for having our youngest daughter, because:

She is so loving! Lately she can’t stop hugging and kissing me  :)

I love her attitude! She’s got a lot of spunk!

She is really kind.

During her soccer games she always stops playing in the event she thinks someone is hurt when most kids keep on playing.

I have so much fun watching her play soccer. Her reaction after scoring goals is really adorable!

She loves her big sister! They play so much together. Their bond for each other is very special to me.

She sings a lot and I think with a little coaching she is going to be a great singer.

I love tickling her lol. She laughs so hard.

Thank you for this wonderful being that we call our daughter!!! Both she and her older sister mean the world to us! They fill our lives with so much joy and love! Thank you.

I’ve contemplated doing an MBA on and off. I put it off because of the time commitment and the cost.

I am SO GRATEFUL that my employer just offered me the chance to pay for my Executive MBA! This partially solves the time commitment issue because I only have to go to school 1 day a week and some of those days are Fridays. I don’t have to quit my job.

I can’t believe they made me this offer! It’s a dream come true!

On top of it all, I will be attending McGill University, which is a school I’ve wanted to go to for well over a decade.

Miracles do happen!

Thank you!

I am very grateful for having my eldest daughter.

She turned 10 this summer. She is smart, loving and beautiful! She’s a great kid.

It makes me happy that she absolutely loves family vacations. They don’t have to be fancy, she just likes spending time and going on adventures together.

It makes me happy that she fell in love with playing soccer this summer. Not only is she a great player, I can see that she gained confidence because she was part of a team.

I makes me happy that she’s fallen in love with synchronized swimming again.

I’m so grateful that she is a wonderful big sister too. She really cares for her younger sis.

I’m so grateful that she likes spending time with me and wants to talk with me so often.

I’m grateful that she is a good kid, who listens to her parents and she never gets in trouble at school.

I’m grateful that she tries hard in school.

I’m grateful that she has good friends to play with.

I’m grateful for her good health.

I’m grateful that she loves me and that I get to love her.

Thank you God for this absolutely wonderful gift, that we get to call out daughter!