“Endings are not only part of life;
they are a requirement
for living and thriving,
professionally and personally.
Being alive requires that
we sometimes kill things off
in which we were once invested.”
Henry Cloud
Necessary Endings
It’s been almost sixteen years since I created this Attitude of Gratitude blog site. During this time, I have written and posted more than 2,000 articles, mostly focused on the theme of gratitude. A few years ago, I acknowledged to myself that I had gotten a bit distracted on a number of posts, mostly pieces I wrote related to my workplace experiences. Those posts reflected a variety of reactions, feelings, and emotions which were anything but grateful, so I deleted them… about fifty of them, in all. My original intent of this blog was to share my passion for gratitude. For the most part, I think I’ve done this.
In the spring of 2015, I knew, with a high degree of certainty, that it was time for me to retire after more than thirty years of teaching at Saint Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara. The writing on the wall regarding the future of the school was fairly clear, and I didn’t want to be any part of the “surprise” closure of the school in June 2016. Retiring when I did was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made in my lifetime. It was time.
Well, it’s time... again. Just as a gut feeling led me to initiate this gratitude writing project back in December 2006, I am confident that now is the time for me to move on to something new. Have I lost my passion for gratitude? Not at all. I do, however, have an overwhelming sense that the time has come bring this Attitude of Gratitude blog to a conclusion. This article will be my last on this site.
The stats page on the dashboard of my Typepad account indicates that over the course of the past sixteen years, an average of 53.6 people per day have visited this site. That’s approximately 311,000 lifetime views. This is yet another blessing for which I am tremendously grateful. I don’t know who reads my blog and who doesn’t, but if my writing has inspired a few individuals to focus on gratitude in their lives, that’s enough for me.
Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read some of my writing. Thank you to those of you who commented on any of the Attitude of Gratitude posts on my Facebook page. Thank you to those of you who encouraged me to publish some of my work in my first book, A Moment’s Pause for Gratitude. And thank you to those of you who have given me so much for which to be grateful in my life. It’s been a wonderful ride.
Finis.
