Sunday, November 19, 2017

Gratitude

Expressions of gratitude in November are, in my opinion, so clichéd that they run the risk of coming across as superficial, and I avoid them accordingly. So for me to post this, my first blog post in over a year, in the month of November, on the topic of gratitude, is not something I take lightly.

Whether you prefer the term blessed, privileged, lucky, whatever, I am a very fortunate man. The top of my thankful list is always my wife, but I wanted to focus this on something else. This past week I was given the opportunity to speak at a one-day conference in Minneapolis call Agile Day Twin Cities. It was the first time I had ever presented at a conference by invitation rather than proposal. I met some amazing people and got to better know an awesome person I'd previously met. I was treated as a peer by people I consider to be well out of my league. It was humbling and exhilarating and it never would have happened if I hadn't been invited to speak.

I'm not naming names here because these awesome people are also humble; plus, I don't want to come across as a suck-up or name dropper. But, if they're reading this, they know who they are, and I want them to know how grateful I am. I intend on expressing that gratitude by taking the opportunities they've afforded me, making them proud, and paying it forward.

I was so caught up in each moment that I didn't take any selfies or anything, but you can see pictures from the conference on Twitter. I plan on making this blog much more meaningful in 2018.