Well, here I am at the end of a lovely Thanksgiving Day weekend here up in Canada. Our weather has been like summer more than fall, with temperatures of 25C and beautiful sunshine. Honestly, I do not think we have had a cloud in the sky since Thursday.
Today, I am going to share 11 of the many, many things I am thankful for (including my 10,000 mission). I almost did not write this post because a couple of weeks ago someone unsubscribed from my list and their reason was that my posts were too cheesy. Since I don’t really discuss much cheese, I am assuming he thought my posts were just a little to happy, positive, polite, etc. As many of you are probably aware, some of my online colleagues in the strength & conditioning field think that having personality means dropping the f-bomb every fourth sentence and shouting – “I am so killin’ it in the gym today” every chance they get. My preference is to talk with you the same way I talk with all of my other clients – the same way I talk to my close friends, the same way I talk with my family. So, sorry if you think this is cheesy, but on this first Thanksgiving since the loss of my Dad in July, I am going to share just a few of the many things I have to be thankful for…
1. I truly believe I have the best husband in the world. I work long hours and he very rarely gives me grief for it. When I was starting out, I would often be home 1.5 or 2 hours later than I had told him and again it was never an issue. That let me build my business to what it is today, so I am thankful for that. He also suffers my hair brained ideas with great patience – like taking up snow boarding a 40, taking up long-board skateboarding just this year, running marathons and hundreds of other schemes that he would probably never come up with on his own, but he goes along with me and very rarely complains. Makes my life wonderful, I always look forward to getting home.
2. Starbucks – yes, I really am. I call it my ‘happy place’ – sitting in the Starbucks just a 30-second walk away from the Revolution Gym right now typing this post. I love that there is a place I can come for a change of scenery, some focused work and a delicious beverage.
3. Skateboard – when we were in San Diego back in September I found the long board that I had scoped out online – a sweet board with a picture of Bob Marley on the bottom of the board. It is not a top of the line board by any stretch, but it is just perfect for us. We spend a good hour yesterday skateboarding along the river which runs through my hometown – my hometown is called London and yes the river is called the Thames. With the leaves changing, it was awesome!
4. Family – As I mentioned earlier, this was our first big family holiday without my Dad. It went pretty well – we all went out to my parents favourite restaurant and had a lovely time. Although we all miss Dad terribly, I always remind myself of how lucky we were to be raised by him with his even temper and wise advice. I also feel very lucky to still have a great family including my Mom, brother, his wife and two kids, my Uncle, Aunt and four cousins plus all of Paul’s family. Pretty lucky for sure.
5. Friends – I do not have thousands of friends – many of my good friends are people I met through working with them at the gym. I am a big believer that friends are like the family that we choose. I have a nice small group of very loyal friends and for that I am thankful. I am thankful that my buddy Andy (he was an usher at our wedding and I was his ‘best man’ – we ski raced together and I could tell you some stories!…but I won’t), his wife Stacey (who is American, but getting to the point that she can intelligently talk about hockey which is very cool) and their new baby Finn came home from Colorado for the Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great time sitting around shooting the breeze, re-telling some of those stories I mentioned above that I won’t tell you and sampling a few pints of fine beer. Yum
6. Health – It seems like there are a lot of really sick people out there. It feels like every week someone gets diagnosed with something that will change the way they live their life, so for now, I will be thankful that I have my good health.
8. Internet – Yes, I am thankful for the internet because it let’s me expand my reach so I actually have a chance of achieving my Mission, which is to help 10,000 goalies win more games with fewer injuries even if they do not have the genetic gifts of their competitors. Originally, it was going to be 11,000 goalies but my mentor Bedros Keuilian said it would be distracting because all people would be thinking is “Why 11,000??” so ten thousand it is! How will I know when I have achieved my mission – well, I know my training techniques will help any goalie win more games and reduce their risk of injury, so when I have grown my “insider list” (those of you who get my email newsletter, special discount offers and the opportunity to join programs like my sold out Elite Goalie Strength & Conditioning Program) to 10,000. I will let you know how it is going!
9. Hockey – So happy to see the NHL back in play after a very long summer. But I am also thankful for the game of hockey itself. The fact that I grew up playing road hockey in the driveway and ice hockey on the backyard rink, thankful for the 5 year old kids that arrive to the rink just a block away from my house already wearing all their gear, thankful for the passion that takes hold of players and thankful that I can help them fuel that passion.
10.Opportunity – Imagine the opportunity we have today that our parents or grand parents never had. We really do have every opportunity to build whatever type of life we want with consistent effort, working on the right things.
11. Subscribers- That’s YOU! – Finally, I am thankful to you my subscribers. You are helping me build my dream business and you are great people to work for. When I get the opportunity to meet you face-to-face as I did this past summer in Chicago and Vancouver, I always feel like I am talking with a friend and it is so cool. So thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for telling me when I have done a good job and for letting me know what I can do better. Please, if you ever have a question, just ask – remember that I work for you.
If you have something that you are thankful for – feel free to share it below in the comments section. Yes, it is cheesy but I think taking 10 seconds to be think of all that we have is a worthy cause. Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks!
Cheers,
Maria