Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are all enjoying/have enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend. I must admit that this holiday often slips by me without much recognition as it has always ranked lower on the priority list with respect to holidays in my families. Not that we didn’t always have a ‘celebration’ of sorts, but it was never quite the production that Christmas was. This year in particular it crept up on me and I wasn’t really aware it was a long weekend until a few days ago.
I’ve made some more time to think about things in my life this past weekend, and did do some of that thinking about “giving thanks” for all the amazing things in my life. We all have many amazing things in our life I’m sure, and while I don’t think we need a long weekend to prompt us to think about and acknowledge them, I don’t think it hurts either.
Realizing the amazing things in my life and acknowledging the significance of this weekend I figured I would tell you all about some of the amazing things in my life. The first and most important amazing thing that I would like to give thanks for is the Love in my life. It’s a word that I have come to use often, not necessarily in the sense of loving someone but in that sense as well. My life is full, jam packed, with Love, and while there’s always room for more, it’s jam packed. The major sources of Love in my life are first and foremost my family. They are an exceptional group of people who have supported me throughout my 24(almost 25) years, and their Love and support has continued to grow as I do. I remember many months ago I wrote a mini-series of emails about “what’s really important” and family were and are a big part of that thought.
Another major source of Love in my life comes from my friends. My friends from all levels, who I interact with in different environments and in different ways, they are a great source of Love. Some of them I have known for a long time, we have shared great times together, many highs and some lows as well. Some friends I connect with on such great levels, intellectually and emotionally, it’s such an amazing experience and I’m thankful for it. My friends that I’ve had for years and the new friends that I’ve had for not so many years, they are all a great source of Love and a great part of my life.
Just yesterday I finished another book, yes I believe that brings me to a total of 9 lifetime. And that is much of the reason I am thinking about all the Love in my life, as the book talked a lot about Love and Fear, and the dynamics of each. It has made me realize, yet again, just how much Love I do have in my life. Pretty fitting how I finished the book on this Thanksgiving weekend.
Thinking along the Thanksgiving thought I began to think once again about all the great things in my life, and inevitably that train of thought brings me to thinking about this email group. It has been such as major part of my life and in less than 4 weeks I’ll get the opportunity to give over 2000 high schools students, and perhaps many thousand others, exposure to this amazing part of my life. That thought has started to consume me, and it’s all good. What exactly happens over the next several months is tough to predict on this day, but I know that the potential of what will happen is pretty awesome.
As I’ve been preparing for the launch of the Challenge I’ve reviewed many of my old group messages, especially the early ones as I’ve started the process of adjusting the dates for their re-broadcasting. Doing this task has sparked the thoughts I had during my first week in hospital when the My Friends email group was born, specifically I’ve thought about why I started the group. Initially it was designed to be an education and communication tool. I did feel from a very early point in my Series that my experience was going to be an incredible learning opportunity. There were many unknowns in my life during that first week in hospital, but the one thing I felt very confident about was the learning potential of my new Challenge. I feel I’ve never been more right about anything in my whole life. While the group was designed to be an educational tool, it’s other major purpose was to communicate the details of my experience to you all. During those first few days I spent in hospital I soon realized that I would not be able to keep up with the demands being placed on me for information, yet I wanted to ensure that those who were concerned were kept informed. Thankfully I had a laptop and access to the Internet, as they certainly played a major role in my Series. The ability to communicate with you all, scattered all over the world, at my convenience, was and still is an amazing part of my Series and life.
The other major element of the My Friends email group that quickly became a significant part of my Series was the support component. I unknowingly created an incredible support group, that was able to support me through the tough times and was able to share the victories with me. Of course the biggest victory is yet to come, and I look forward to sharing that one with you just as I’ve shared so many of the past victories. The support component of the group can not be understated, it’s significance is tough to put into words. Let me try… there were many times when I was alone, by choice or circumstance, many times when I looked for comfort, for someone to share with, for another perspective on my situation or latest challenge, these times often occurred at night during a sleepless night in hospital or at home, and often times one or many of my over 4000 messages were present in my inbox to provide that support. Whatever reason I may have been looking for it, it was so often there. Whether it was a one liner saying “I’m here, to listen”, or a kick in the ass to get on my bike after Transplant, or a joke to make me laugh, that support and sharing has changed my life. The concept of ‘giving yourself away’ is in my core from my upbringing, and the past 23 months have shown me exactly what happens when you give yourself away. When you open yourself to others, and give a piece of yourself away it comes back much bigger than when it left. This email group is a great example of that theory in action.
This weekend has been yet another great one, and I wanted to let you all know that I’m thankful for all the Love I have in my life, and for all the sources that have provided it consistently since November 13th, 1975, as well as for those that have provided it at any point from that point to present.
That’s a piece of my perspective from my place on top of My world.
It’s great to be here. Have a great day.
Live life. Love life.
Geoff
#4
