Feeling Blessed

I did not wake up today remembering that it was 9/11.

Instead, I woke thinking about my blessings: my family, my health, my supportive wife, my entrepreneurial journey (which I try to remember is a blessing despite the wild ups and down of the business and my psyche). I am so incredibly grateful for these blessings and so many more. I am trying to use gratitude as a way of channeling my energy, anxiety, and ADD tendencies. I think it’s working.

But realizing that is it 9/11 prompted all kinds of other feelings and memories:

Twelve years ago today, I was attending a board meeting as a VC.  Another board member was attending the meeting by phone and alerted us that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. We all thought it was a small craft and kept going with the meeting. When he informed us that another plane had hit the Center, we adjourned the meeting. I spent the afternoon and evening watching the news with my wife, feeling numb and helpless.

-Realizing how thankful I am that I am in good health. I am rather lucky that my genetics enable me to keep my weight stable despite not working out anywhere near enough and with high levels of stress. I really need to change my workout pattern, for stress and sleep benefits. Today I re-committed to that.

-I am trying to enjoy the journey, the learning, the personal growth, especially that which comes from being an entrepreneur.  As a goal driven person, it has been quite a challenge for me to embrace the uncertainty, the downs (that of course go with the ups), and the feeling that, some days, I don’t know what I’m doing. This has arguably been one of the toughest things I have ever done. Through another blog, I came upon these beautiful words from Antonio Machado- “Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.”

-Thankfully, 9/11 didn’t impact me directly too much. But thinking further about my blessings has heightened my understanding of how precious my relationships are with family and friends. I have not done a particularly good job in including the friend part of my life with business and family. It’s tough to do, but I am increasingly realizing that it is something I need. As driven as I am, and as much as I attach self-worth to my work, it is family and friends that really give life meaning. I don’t have enough friend connectedness right now. That needs to change.