
On Wednesday, during the normal weekly staff meeting, I had my RAs do an activity and I want to share this activity with you. First, you start with a piece of paper and a pen/pencil. Draw a rectangle (any size you want) and place however number of circles around the shape that you want. You have now created your own personal table for your life's board of directors. Take some time to consider who you are really thankful for and who you would place within each chair. The sky is the limit on who you can invite to the table, they can be people you know, people you wish you knew, fictional characters, or even animals or other things that are not human at all!
When it comes to my table, I actually cheated a bit and had each of my 4 chairs represent a different part in my life. The first chair represents my family. This is my mom, dad, sister, dog and extended family. I am truly thankful for the kind of relationship I have with them. They are the wind in my sails, and the song in my heart. I hold a very deep love for them and could't imagine a life without them. The second chair represents my friends. This has to be a big chair in order to accommodate everyone, but special mention goes out to the friends you can find on my speed-dial: Tim, Matt, Brittany, Stelly and Kelsey! These are the people who keep me sane, have created a home away from home and are huge support systems for me. The third chair represents my work. These are all of my bosses (Laura, Brian M, Brian B, Josh, Miles, Amy, Cindy, Marvette and Dan) as well as my RA staff and my work mentors who have helped me become who I am today (especially Jud and Jess, I love you both!) The final seat is reserved for the people who I will probably never meet, but act as role models in my life. Although they easily hold the "celeb status", I have always seen them as people who represent so much more in life and promote love, joy and maybe even a bit of magic to the world around us. These people include Walt Disney, David Tennant, Ellen Degeneres, George Feeney, Mr. Rogers, Ms. Frizzle, and Patch Adams. Although they all hold different importances to me, all of them look to the future, see the good in people, and in many cases are far beyond their time. I'm thankful I have so many great seats filled in my boardroom, and I look forward to filling many more spots in the future!