Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the U.S.

It is not a holiday that we celebrate here in Ireland but I do like the idea of taking time to be thankful for what we have in life.

Today is the famous Black Friday; a day which in my view is the opposite of Thanksgiving.

People all over the world seem to lose all sense of reality and lose the run of themselves as they desperately try to save some money on an item that they don’t want or need.

But back to the idea of gratitude.

Don’t get too attached to your plans

I had big plans for what I wanted to get done over the past few days.

But then on Tuesday evening, my parents told me that my nephew Gary, and his partner Sophie, had gotten the keys to their new house.

It is the first house they have owned so naturally there is a bit of excitement.

On Wednesday, I called up to the house and saw Gary putting together some flat-pack furniture.

I stayed a few hours to help him and we had a good chat in the process.

On Thursday, I called up again to see if he wanted me to take away all the packaging that had come with the furniture.

Again, he was putting together some furniture, while my father was doing some painting for him.

We had another good chat as we put together the last of the furniture and got his TV set up.

They are now ready to move in today.

As you might imagine, I got very little of my planned work done.

But what I did get was to spend some quality time with my nephew for the first time in years.

I certainly haven’t spent that much time with him since he was a baby, 25 years ago.

I could be annoyed with myself for not getting my work done but I am far too grateful for the time I spent chatting with Gary.

Enjoy each moment life offers you

The whole experience was another reminder of the need to live in the moment.

We often forget to enjoy the current experience in the hope that doing something different will lead to greater happiness further down the line.

But there may not even be a ‘further down the line’.

It is good to have plans for the future, but they must not come at the expense of enjoying the present moment.

Life is just a series of moments and once each moment is gone, it is not coming back so, be flexible enough with your plans to ensure you make the most of each moment.

I am not going to offer a deal this Black Friday, I just wanted to offer you this story and the opportunity for contemplation that it brings.