Labor Day and Gratitude

I am the daughter of two Depression Era babies.  My parents always appreciated what they had and worked hard to earn it.  And they were aware of and respected those who contributed their time and efforts to bring them products and services.

On Labor Day, it seems appropriate to channel my parents' gratitude and share it here.  Too often, I take for granted that so much in my life comes from or relies on the labors of others.  I welcome the opportunity today to remember and give thanks.

Parenthetically, I have learned over time (through leadership training and mindfulness activities) that gratitude is an amazingly powerful character strength for lawyers.   As explained on the Via Institute on Character's website, 

The character strength of gratitude involves feeling and expressing a deep sense of thankfulness in life, and more specifically, taking the time to genuinely express thankfulness to others. This thankfulness can be for specific gifts or thoughtful acts. . . .Gratitude tends to foster the character strengths of kindness and love, and therefore is closely associated with empathy and with connection to others.

I am certain you can see from this excerpted description why gratitude can be a great asset in lawyering, including in business lawyering. I am lucky to have gratitude among my strongest character strengths, as assessed through the VIA Institute's character strengths survey.  I will be offering some of my thoughts on character strengths and business lawyering in my presentation at this year's Business Law Prof Blog symposium next month.  (More on that as the date gets closer.)

But for now, I will offer brief, but heartfelt, thanks to those who engage in work that benefits me, those I love, and the world around us.  Happy Labor Day, y'all.  I appreciate your hard work.  Have a relaxed, enjoyable day contemplating, honoring, and celebrating the work that you and others do in service to us all.