New York, NY – Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a personal approach to my column and offer the readers of LaborPress a heartfelt thought to support the spirit of this holiday.
We are living in historic times. The life we had before Covid hit is becoming a distant memory now. Our work changed, our life changed and the entire world changed. But thankfully, we are doing better than we did last year. There are no gathering restrictions. We are together again, live and in person, and interacting with each other instead of talking through a computer screen.
Although I support the freedom of choice, I also support the vaccine. Having been vaccinated for nearly a year, I have reupped and received my booster shot with little to no side-effects at all.
There are people who I have not seen since the shutdown began. However, with workers returning, I was grateful to see some of my old friends return to their offices. I am thankful that through it all, I remained an essential worker. I am thankful for those who I work with and grateful for the solidarity I’ve seen between union workers in the building trades who made sure to check in with each other. We learned who we could count on during these times.
I am thankful for my health and the health of my loved ones. I am grateful for this opportunity and thankful for Neal Tepel and Joe Maniscalco who have allowed me this position with LaborPress to promote mental health, wellness and wellbeing in the workplace. I am thankful for Stephanie West who is also one of the Labor Press Team leaders, and I’m thankful for Lisa Cancellarich for accepting my weekly emails.
I am thankful for all the new opportunities that I have encountered. I am also thankful for each door that closed because this taught me to look for new options and better circumstances. I am grateful for my peers and my mentors.
I am thankful for the survival of those who I knew that were sick this year. Their survival taught me the secret of endurance. I learned from my favorite teachers that, above all, the only winning move is to be persistent and consistent. They taught me to move onward at a steady pace. I am thankful for this. I am thankful for all the slips and falls because this showed me that I can get back up whenever I need to.
Lastly, I am closing with another special thought that I would like to relay to you. No one has the right to stop you from improving yourself. It is important to keep in mind that not everyone is going to be helpful, either. Not everyone is going to cheer you on or be a fan. But no matter what, no one can ever stop you from achieving your goals or pulling off your trick. So, keep moving, and above all, don’t quit. This is something to remember.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks. And, as always, thanks for reading.
Ben Kimmel is a proud member of the IUOE Local 94, as well as an Author, Writer on thewrittenaddiction.com, Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Well-being and DEI Content Provider, Certified Addiction and Recovery Coach, Certified Professional Life Coach, and Peer & Wellness Advocate. Ben can be reached at bennyk1972@gmail.com
