Taking a Moment to be Thankful, Especially After the Plane Tragedy

After the tragedy of the Asiana Boeing 777 plane, crash-landed on the runway at San Francisco airport, as the CEO of our business, but most importantly, the CEO of our “higher self”, the questions we may ask ourselves are: “If that would have happened to us, can we say we lived fully, with enough confidence, passion, love, hugs, and contribution?

Can we say we are living in the present moment, the best we can do, and be thankful enough with what we have?

Several people were killed and many others injured while others, like Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg revealed in a post changed her plans at the last minute.  Sandberg said she was taking a minute to be thankful after hearing of the disaster that she barely avoided.

We don't have to wait for a near-tragedy to get the benefits of gratitude.  No matter the events we experienced in this life time, there is always a person set on to be walking over your life path, for you to realize that you are never alone. We let our fears engulf our souls into an abyss on darkness.

As leaders of our industries, as CEO of our companies, we are the “busy-bees” going all around the world, making things happen for the better or for the worst, but do we forget where we are coming from?  We have an amazing society here in North America, we are blessed by so many things we are surrounded with and we forget to appreciate it most of the time.  Are we taking enough time to thank our family, spouse, children, colleagues or employees for what they bring to us every day? 

When I spoke in India few months ago, I was shocked by the poverty, so I was feeling so much gratitude on how lucky I am, how lucky we are in North America, living our comfortable lives in our nice houses and apartments.  We have great food, great health for many of us, great houses, electricity, water, education and great systems, even if they are not perfect and we can deeply ameliorate them, but at least, we are so much better than so many other countries. It is a subject I will address in front of 700 delegates and 75 countries in South Africa next November.

You see, we are complaining for a lot less dramatic situations, comparing ourselves with people in our communities and surroundings.  We always want the best, want to improve our lives, which is a normal and a healthy thing, in my opinion, but in the other hand, being too spoiled, too greedy and too demanding is another thing.  Like everything else, I think we need to find the fine line in between both, the "sweet spot" as we try to reach in golf, to be happy and grateful of what we have, without being too complacent.  

When I semi-retired at 36 years old, traveled and lived in my RV and back room of my office between Canada and USA for 4 years, that was still much more luxury than so many people on the planet!  Think about it... This adventure made me realize so much more about life and business.  In the first 4 months, that is where I discovered my mission and how much life is not about us. 

Exercise of the month:  Take a few deep breaths and relax.  Please think about the worst moments in your life and who helped you.  Take a piece of paper and write every name that comes to your mind.  Ideally, make contact with these persons face-to-face, acknowledge them for what they've done for you, show them your gratitude that is magic!   

This is one of the best ways to show someone your appreciation, but you need at first to be aware of it, appreciate life and show the example around you.  Life is not about us, life is about how much difference we can make in other people’s lives, especially as leaders and CEO’s, we have so many talents, capacities, understanding and we need to use them, not for competition but to leave our legacy.

About the Author

Nadine Lajoie is an International Award-Winning Entrepreneur, World Renowned Leadership Speaker and America's High Speed Success Coach, Author of #1 Best-Seller "Win the Race of Life… With Balance and Passion at 180 mph!" and Founder of the “World Premiere Leadership Trainings at the Racetrack”.

If you want to take your quick leadership survey and claim your 1-hour complimentary online training on how to win the race of life, please visit www.NadineRacing.com/free or call Beverly Zeliger at 949-421-7562 to book Nadine as a speaker in your organization.