What Are You Thankful For: The Moment That Stopped Me Cold

Thanksgiving cuts through the noise.
Not with sentiment, but with truth.

Gratitude is a mirror. It shows you what’s been shaping you all year, whether you’ve owned it or not.

And earlier this year, that truth hit me at the base of a waterfall in Kenya.

I was hiking with a group of Kenyan men I’d been coaching. Good men. Hard-working. Responsible. But most had never been pushed into anything like brotherhood or personal growth.

When we reached the waterfall, I told the guys, “Let’s get in.”

I didn’t know most of them couldn’t swim.

Everything went quiet. The kind of quiet where you feel the gap between fear and who you want to become.

Then two men stepped forward anyway.

They moved into the water, slow, tense, unsure, relying on each other, trusting the group to pull them out if things went sideways. It wasn’t pretty, but it was honest courage.

Watching them fight through that moment reminded me of something I tend to forget:
I’ve had men do the same for me. Men who stood with me when I was in over my head. Men who didn’t let me drown in my own fear or pride.

That’s gratitude. And it’s not soft. It’s clarifying.

Thanksgiving forces a real question:

“What am I truly grateful for, and what does that say about the man I’m becoming?”

If all you’re grateful for is comfort, then comfort is shaping you.

If you’re grateful for growth, challenges, and the men who steady you, that’s a different path entirely.

The waterfall moment made it clear:

The most meaningful parts of my year came from responsibility, risk, and the people who walked with me through both.

A quick reset

Take 10 minutes today:

• Go through the pictures on your phone and remember those moments and people and send them a quick text telling them how thankful you are for them and that moment.
  
  

Remember

Thanksgiving isn’t about the table.
It’s about the truth.

Look in the mirror.
Acknowledge who helped you get here. Thank them and then decide who you’re becoming next.

That’s the real work.

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