Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

It’s my favorite holiday.

Yes, the Thanksgiving story we were told as kids is not true. And, yes, the aggressive and absurd promotion of materialism on Black Friday gets worse every year.

(If we ever send out a Black Friday sale e-mail, please come field-harvest me.)

But it’s still a great holiday.

It’s simple — no religion, no gifts, not a lot of fanfare.

It’s a time to gather with family and friends and share a meal around the dinner table.

That’s it. Full stop.

It’s also a contemplative holiday.

It’s late November, the days are short, and the land is quiet.

The holiday is centered around giving thanks.

For me personally, I think gratitude — real, genuine gratitude — is one of the most powerful forces on earth.

With the ups and downs of life, it’s something I turn to regularly, and it always helps.

Tomorrow evening, around our dinner table here on the ranch, we will — as we always do — go around the table and say something that we’re grateful for.

Just one thing.

It can be big. It can small. It can be serious. It can be silly.

But you have to say your one thing — and you have to mean it.

This year, I am thinking about our health — and how amazingly fortunate we are that Sarah, Otto, Greta, and I are all currently healthy.

As we get older, the fragility of life becomes more and more apparent. We see friends and loved ones go through unimaginable challenges, and we read about tragedies that we can’t wrap our heads around.

Just this past Sunday, I read an op-ed in the New York Times by a mother that lost her daughter to cancer earlier this year — and this will be their first Thanksgiving without her. It was a powerful essay, and it moved me to tears.

—————

We are all human, we all complain, none of us are perfect.

(I can throw a tantrum better than most three-year-olds.)

But whenever we’re able to tap into real gratitude, it’s a special thing.

And in that spirit, please know — no bullshit here whatsoever — that our gratitude for you, your business, and your support of NBB is something we think about and talk about all the time.

We are so damn grateful for all of you.

So — thank you — and Happy Thanksgiving.

— Matt

This morning on the ranch.