We each have so much to be grateful for. While the pandemic and its effects may have caused great upheaval, we still have many blessings that we should celebrate.

For the last few months, I have been jotting down in my journal three things that I am grateful for each day. My goal is to not repeat things, and that simple decision forces me to consider all sorts of things outside of my usual view.

For instance, today I am grateful for the roof over my head so I don’t get rained on, as well as an enclosed back porch. From that back porch, where I recently moved my “office,” I can watch the rain and truly fascinating aspects of backyard life as fall moves toward winter (trees losing their leaves, squirrels gathering and digging holes for winter food) that I never paid much attention to. The blue jay that flits by a few times almost daily also makes me grateful.

What are you grateful for? I challenge you to move past the easy ones (family, a job, etc.) to something unique that you might not otherwise see.

With a day set aside for giving thanks, I used to think of it as one and done. Thanks, Thanksgiving. Check.

What about all the other days? Research shows that people who are grateful daily are less sick, more productive and more successful. Big surprise. Becoming too excited or depressed is harder when we take time to celebrate what we have.

If the pandemic has made you more blue or worried, then jotting down what you are grateful for could be the best medicine.

Post the unique things you are grateful for on the CBNB Facebook page so we all can discover those little things that some of us might otherwise overlook. 

Remaining 2020 Meetings

While our monthly Friday meetings have ended, we still have two Networking Happy Hours and the Advent Mass. The online Advent Prayer Breakfast is Dec. 4 with Father Roth delivering an online Advent Mass for us with a livestream from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The mass will begin at 8 AM, and be followed by a “BYO” coffee and conversation.

The first Networking Happy Hour is today, Thursday, Nov. 19, from 4-5 PM and the last one of the year is Thursday, Dec. 10, at 4 PM. Please join us for some great one-on-one networking, where we give you questions to answer that move past the name and company to actually sharing meaningful information

Helping Each Other 

The more we support each other, the stronger we become as individuals and as a group.

Please, please, please, use our membership directory to find vendors. We have a great roster of businesses that share the same values. We can support each other as we grow.

If you are looking for goods and services, start in our membership directory.

We all win when we buy from within. (Hey, I think I have a new slogan.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bob Graham
FY 2020-21 President
Catholic Business Network of Baltimore