Today we said farewell to "the face of St. Robert School," our receptionist, Mr. Berg. With every arrival and departure - of colleagues, families, students - I am reminded of the sheer number of people that have touched my life in my nearly 20-year tenure at this institution. Only seven of our current 34 staff members were on the team when I joined in 1999. Many more have come and gone along the way, and I'm not quite sure how to even estimate the hundreds of children who have passed through these doors in the span of those years.
I am grateful for every single one; the ones I easily loved and the ones that challenged me; the spirited and the pensive; the creative and the analytical; those with burdens and those with answers. Gratitude for all of them and the encounters we shared is what sustains me and gives my life meaning and joy.
As we prepared to send your children off to their holiday celebrations today, I invited them to consider making gratitude a way of daily life rather than just a ritual for special occasions. The formula is a simple one, though it takes a bit of discipline to get started. It begins with being fully present to every person, place, and experience of the day. That might be the hardest part. Focus! Put down the digital devices. Turn off the noise. Look. Listen. Notice. Then, allow yourself to feel. Grateful. Really. You will be amazed at how observation and attentiveness gets you there without much conscious effort. Finally, express it. What we say becomes real, even tangible. It begins to defines us and finally becomes us.
Notice, feel, say. These simple habits can lead to a truly grateful way of life, which, I think, cultivates a happy, healthy, fulfilled life. And so it is my Thanksgiving wish that God will bless each of you with the abundance of a grateful spirit to sustain you all the days of your life.
Safe travels, safe returns, and a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.
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