What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Every Thanksgiving when our family gets together for dinner, we sit around the dinner table and take turns saying what we're thankful for. Today I had the privilege to be at two Thanksgiving get-togethers, one a brunch and one at dinner.

Even though we do this each year, as always if I have to go first I have a hard time thinking of things other than the obvious. Luckily this year many people went ahead of me, so I was able to get a few good ideas from listening to what other people were thankful for. I heard some pretty thoughtful things today that really impressed upon me about the quality of people around me.

I heard one person speak about how much they've learned from their partner about seeking out the goodness in other people, and how thankful they were for that.

I heard another person speak about their thankfulness of being a Canadian Citizen, as they are a landed immigrant. They spoke about how thankful they were about the quality of life here, about how good things are here for them and their family. But this person didn't stop there. They continued on to say that they hoped through their own actions that they were able to give back to Canada and to their family and friends they've made here in Canada as much as they've received.

I heard another person speak about a healed relationship in their family, and how much the quality of their life has improved because of it, and how thankful they are for it, and to the people who influenced them to heal their relationship.

When it came my turn to speak about what I was thankful for, I found it flowed more easily this year than in many previous...

I am blessed, not with perfect parents, but with parents who've learned from any mistakes made. My own parents, divorced now for 20 years, have a wonderful amicable relationship today that makes me proud and very happy for both of them. For this I am truly thankful. It wasn't always this way, but initially through both of their loves for their children, and subsequently for their own self-improvement, they have spoken at length about their path together and apart, and have found a way now as good friends to enjoy life together again as "family".

I am also blessed with a wonderful sister and her family. My own sister and I have previously healed troubles from our childhood, so I am very thankful for the excellent relationship that we both have now.

One of the things that I have noticed in my years as a coach and trainer is that many people who unsuccessfully seek to change their body are often people who have unhealed relationships in their lives. Whether it is with a mother, a father, brother or sister, even a best friend, an unhealed relationship can often prevent someone from achieving their own enlightenment.

Family and very close friends are supposed to help us develop to our potential through the interactions that we have with them. But when these relationships fail or are dulled or hindered, so is the development that they are supposed to help us with. So it is very difficult to reach true happiness and success in one's life, without first healing the relationships.

This may be hard to grasp for some, but more likely it is that some people don't want to accept that they may have played a part in a failed or unhealed relationship. It takes a lot of courage to recognize and admit to being a part of the problem in a relationship. But taking that step and making the effort to resolve past issues is a HUGE part of becoming someone who truly feels that they deserve to be happy.

Once you truly feel like you deserve to be happy, it's a heck of a lot easier to take the necessary steps to become happy! (and to do what your trainer tells you to!! ;)

I have worked with people who wanted to change so much, but had unresolved family issues, issues from childhood that have held them back to the point where they truly felt as though they didn't deserve to be happy. Subsequent to healing the relationship, they didn't beat themself up anymore. This made making the choices of healthy eating and regular exercise so much easier.

So one of the things I realize now that I am so very thankful for is having learned about the power of healing relationships that have old scars. In my own life I have witnessed it, helped friends, clients, and family do this, and when I see the results of it, hardly anything could make me happier.

Finally, I am thankful to have my wonderful wife Tanya, who is the first person to show me scars in my own life that needed to be healed. Without her I may not have become the person I am today.

When we bought our house, I knew I wanted to put a private training studio in my basement, so I had the basement built with 9 foot ceilings and an entrance to the basement from outside. I wasn't sure when I would actually set up the private studio, but at Tanya's urging, I did it earlier this year. And thank God I listened to her. With the fires at 275 Bank Street, and Trueform's and my private studio downtown's temporary closure I would have been in big financial trouble. But because of Tanya's urging me to build my new studio here at our house, I've been able to serve the majority of my clients here.

And if that's not enough to be thankful for, I'm thankful for the gift that we have and are still to fully receive, the gift of a baby girl, that we are due to have on Feb. 14th.

So these are all the things that I am thankful for today. I'm sure there are others I haven't mentioned but this is lots for this year!

I hope you, my clients, and online readers are all healthy, happy, and enjoying a big turkey induced sleep as I will be shortly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

:)
Shane