Giving Thanks
As we approach another Thanksgiving holiday it is time to think about the things that we are thankful for. This has been a truly amazing year for me personally, as well as for our family and my business life. There has been so much transition and every step of the process has taught me so much. I continue to meet amazing people that feed my soul and who want to work with me, side by side, to make the world a better place. I also continue to meet people that are on a different path, and that is the way it is supposed to be.
As a family, we experienced our first personal development weekend together last week. We attended the Motivating The Teen Spirit weekend where both Noah and Drew were participants and Ilise and I were volunteers. We learned so much about each other as people and the fears that our kids have as they grow up. Our kids also got the opportunity to hear the pain from some of the other participants, which allowed them to realize that they are not alone and there are others that are going through similar, or even more challenging, situations in life.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving 2014, our family prepares for the greatest adventure we have taken together as a family. We start with 2 weeks in Israel at the end of December for our son, Noah’s, Bar Mitzvah. We have 15 family members joining us in Israel for this occasion, which is such a blessing. Noah has worked really hard and will do an amazing job. We have scheduled some time with our favorite Rabbi tomorrow morning to discuss with Noah the personal journey that he is embarking on and what this all means for him. I am extremely proud of the man that he is becoming.
Our itinerary is set for the rest of our world trip, with a launch date of January 25th heading to Melbourne. We will spend the next 6 1/2 weeks in Australia with stops in Sydney, The Gold Coast and Sun Coast, Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef and then on to Perth. From Australia we will spend 4 days in Dubai, then off to Greece for 2 weeks, Turkey for 2 weeks and then to Naples, Italy. From Naples we will travel around Italy for about 3 weeks and then lease a car to travel through Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands and our final stop, in late June, in Paris. We are beyond excited and look forward to some life changing experiences!
So, as we prepare for this Thanksgiving I am humbled by the love and appreciation that I feel from those that are supporting our efforts around the globe. The people and families that are opening their hearts and their homes as we travel, as well as the fellow Rotarians, business associate, friends and others who are planning to make our trip one we will never forget. Now that we have finalized our travel plans we will start to blog over the coming months on two different websites. This site will be my personal blog and the family will be using TravelBlog at http://www.KesslinFamily.com. There is nothing there just yet, but it’s coming.
Finally, I am thankful this year for Armstrong (www.PilotArmstrong.com) and the progress that he has made on his journey to becoming a commercial airline pilot. Armstrong has hit many walls, but in the end he will succeed and he will go back to Uganda with his commercial license and become the entrepreneur he was meant to be. I have learned so much from Armstrong about purpose and determination. When you have a true purpose in life there is no way you can be stopped. Armstrong, you are my hero and one of my greatest teachers!
To a life well lived 🙂
Larry Kesslin 