Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving: A personal reflection

Where do I start? I have so many thoughts, opinions and feelings. Sometimes I don’t know how to truly express myself. This Blog is part work and part personal, so I am guarded at times. But, today, I am not going to guard my personal written monologue.

I am very sad about what took place in Mumbai yesterday. The attacks on Mumbai represent so much more than the day, weeks, and months of pain inflicted on India – the world.
Why can’t people live in peace and in harmony? I know that since the beginning of time there has been war, anger, territorial strikes, and religious differences. But we are supposed to be more evolved today - aren’t we? Aren’t we supposed to be emotionally evolved?

Between the recent economic meltdown, the “war on terror,” bombings across the world – haven’t we seen enough.

Today is Thanksgiving. I am having family and friends for a feast at my home. When times are tough and the world is up for grabs – we have just a few things. And these things are not possessions. These things that people or at least I personally care about are friends and family. I love my family and I only wish warm, kind, caring thoughts to them. But, beyond my family, I also wish warm, loving, caring thoughts for people around this world.

People are losing jobs, people are losing homes and people are losing their lives in all this war and anger. My heart goes out to everyone today. Good, bad, evil – everybody is getting a warm thought from me. It all starts with one person. One act of kindness. One act of positive gesture.
I have never been officially “religious” probably because I grew up with a lot of religious people around me when I was younger. And, those religious people were mean sometimes – much of the time. The judgment passed on others was like acid. I literally thought – wow – that is a religious person – or in my home town, that is a Christian.

I consider myself spiritual. I believe in a higher power. I don’t care if you are Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or Born Again. All I care about is the following: are you a good human being, do you treat people with respect, are you kind? These are critical questions. And, as this blog is part personal and part business – I think about this stuff in business all the time. Life is too short to work with people that you don’t want to work with. My mom (also one of my best friends) says to me all the time, “Kathleen, if you die tomorrow, is that the decision you want? Is that how you want to live your life?” When I approach life, work, love, I always think, “Kathleen, is this going to make you happy? Are you doing something good? Are these good people?”

I am very proud of my network. I love my friends. I love my family. And, I fortunately, love what I do for a living. And, I like all my colleagues, clients, professional friends. I wish all of you a warm Thanksgiving. And, I hope all of you put out positive, warm, caring, kind energy to the world – not just today, but every day.

Kathleen Shanahan

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