Why I’m Grateful and to Whom?

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Since that is not the case and as I considered all of the things for which I’m grateful, I realized they were all people. Life is all about the people who influence and impact us and the people whom we impact. It’s people who’ve made my life what it is!

I used to be grateful for jobs, homes, vacations and opportunities. And I am still grateful for all those things. But they’re just that — things. I’m grateful for my health, but more grateful for the opportunity to make the world little better place, I’m grateful for the ability to help those helpless, I’m grateful for understanding the difference of “I’m not where I need to be, but thank Allah I’m not where I used to be”, I’m grateful for my family, my family may be small, but they’re mine, and it’s more than I deserve. I am blessed beyond belief.

• I’m so very grateful for my fellow team members of UDiON who has always supported me through the long and arduous journey. Their hard work, unwavering dedication, and encouragement are what enable me to continue my journey.
• I am grateful for all the children’s in our program who continue to inspire me. Without them, I’m not certain I’d feel this much purpose in life. It is for them that I am motivated to work hard and to remain hopeful for the future. Thanks to them, I now understand a very different kind of love I would have otherwise never experienced.
• I am grateful for our men and women in uniform so many have fought and died to keep us safe.
• I’m grateful for my Hatters who calls me friend, like a family but deep inside they know they don’t. See, they may not know it, but they have made me the men I am today. They’ve not only allowed me, but encouraged me to spread my wings and see how far I can fly. They make me want to be better, try better, do better. Because I “Never hate people who are jealous of me, but respect their jealousy. They are the ones who thinks I’m smarter than them”.
• I am grateful for friends and family who’ve stuck by me through the years and who’ve supported my unique approach to life and my eccentric habits and ideologies. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand and appreciate the importance of these authentic relationships.
• I’m sincerely grateful for all my teams, those who work for me today and those who’ve worked for me in the past. It is those colleagues who’ve made it possible for me to succeed professionally. It is true that I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants and it is to them I owe so much gratitude.
• I am unbelievably grateful for my parents, their hard work, and, most importantly, their courage to be different and to seek a different path. It is because of their foresight and willingness to give up all on behalf of their children that I’ve had the opportunity to improve mine and my family’s prospects and our lives. It was my father whom I learned the value of giving. I do my best for them. I want to live up to their expectations, to make their sacrifices worth something. It’s the only way I know how to thank them.
• I’m grateful to my creator ALLAH SWT for the life and all the blessing and the opportunity presented to me to make the world a better place and to pave the path for our future generation to walk.

So be thankful to those you love be meaningful, for example: whom should I thank for the life of my unborn child? If this is only a material world, then there really isn’t anyone to thank. It would be a category error to “thank” my unborn child’s impersonal genes, for the same reason it would be inappropriate to thank my car for getting me to work. We cannot thank objects in any meaningful sense. Moreover, if there really isn’t anyone to be thankful to, then why do I have this innate desire to be thankful? All natural desires find their fulfillment in reality.

Regardless of how you celebrate, Thanksgiving is about taking the time to reflect on what matters most. Faith and prayer both are invisible but they make impossible things possible! Please take a moment to let me know what you’re thankful for this year.

“Contribute and Enjoy Life – It Has an Expiration Date”. There’s still more work to be done, and I can’t wait to see what kind of impact we make, together, in the coming year.

Together, I would like to take this time to wish you all a happy and safe Holiday season.

Thank You!

-Radwan Chowdhury