Thanksgiving is next week. Most people will use the holiday (and the season) to reflect more deeply on what they are thankful for. 

I’ve spoken about this in numerous posts over the last two years. In short, I am: 

• Grateful to be alive (I’m now 8 ½ years with cancerous tumor wrapped around the Aorta) 
• Grateful for my wife and family (not just caretakers, but love and comfort) 
• Grateful to have a job I love (my own business). Note: some clients are better than others. 
• Grateful to be safe   
• Grateful to have co-workers/business partners who I really like and trust 
• Grateful for the environment and its beauty (especially during this fall season) 
• Grateful to be fully immersed in two different cultures (white and Latino) 
• Any many more 

How about you? 

We don’t get through life alone. 

We have parents, teachers, bosses, (for me) the military, and others that play a more formal role. 

But we also have those that “take us under their wing”. 

Sometimes we seek it; other times they find us. 

I’m not going to debate the terms mentor (longer-term, less outcome-based) vs. coach here. 

It used to be that we could point to one person as our mentor. 

Over the past 20 – 30 years it’s become common to have multiple mentors that help us in different ways. The concept of reverse mentoring is now pretty commonplace. 

May and June are the months for graduations. Do you remember yours? Those of your children? Who was the graduation speaker? I had one of the worst – Spiro Agnew. My daughter had one of the best –  John Stewart.

Many universities, colleges, and high schools have rituals and traditions that are ingrained in their commencement ceremonies. These make the ceremony special and more memorable. It also increases your emotional bond with that institution. Those graduating from military academies throw their caps in the air. We (Coast Guard Academy graduates) had to give a silver dollar to the first person saluting us after becoming an officer. Not sure where you would find those now.