New beginnings begin with gratitude

He picked up his grandson from preschool and for a treat the grandfather decided to take his grandson to McDonald’s. It was late afternoon and hardly anyone was in the restaurant at that hour. As they ordered their meal and sat down at a table, the grandson was fascinated by the people cleaning up, sweeping the oor, wiping down tables and taking care of the trash.

As they nished their meal, the grandson was holding his grandfather’s hand as they were leaving the building. e grandson tugged on his grandfather’s hand and said, “Let’s go this way so we can say thank you to the people who work here.” e grandfather smiled, and walked with his grandson as he said thank you to the McDonald’s team. e look on the faces of those behind the counter was genuine warmth as they received the young boy’s gratitude. e only smiles bigger than the grandfather’s, were on the faces of the people working that day.

e boy was only four years old. What a lesson for all of us.

Last week I wrote about another season of new beginnings. If we have been challenged, in a rut, or facing di culties in our lives, we have every chance to start over, give ourselves a new beginning and stop doing what we have always done and expecting di erent outcomes. And maybe our new beginnings begin with gratitude.

New beginnings mean change. Whether we are doing really well and just want to raise the bar for ourselves, or we are struggling in some way, we nd ourselves looking to change something. A change in attitude, behavior, strategy, or maybe learning or elevating a skill. And when it comes to changing our attitude I like to think about one of my favor- ite Jimmy Bu ett songs, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. “

A part of the lyrics go like this

“It’s those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

Nothing remains quite the same With all of our running and all of our cunning If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane”

Our attitude has so much to do with the way we choose to live, laugh, love, work and play. And it has been said that gratitude is one of the strongest human emotions. It’s also been said that the more we show our gratitude for what we have, the more we will have to be grateful for. So I think back to the story of the 4-year-old boy and his grandfather, asking myself: Am I saying thank you enough? Am I showing gratitude to everyone, not just those closest to me? Am I living out the actions of living and working with an attitude of gratitude?

Again, it’s spring, it’s less than a week past Easter, and it’s the perfect time for new beginnings as life seems to be blooming all around us.

You have all probably heard about this thing called a gratitude challenge. It’s where we are challenged to come up with a few things every day that we are grateful for. One of my close friends, John Brokken, does this every day and posts his gratitude list on social media. It’s one of my very favorite things to read each day.

Here are a few ways that I am changing in my word choices when it comes to showing gratitude, I am sure you have your own too, but feel free to put these to good use as well. “ ank you very much.”

“I appreciate you so very much.” “I am so grateful for you.” “I am so thankful that you are in my life.”

“ ank you for being such a blessing to me.”

How about you? Is it time for new beginnings

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com had been working separately on the locating, design and construction of their respective new library facilities.

Tom Gonzales, then Front Range Community College President and I initiated a conversation about joining forces to build a joint use facility for the public and the school’s students in lieu of separate facilities. e college insisted on the library being on their campus, which was acceptable to the city especially given its location. While negotiations were up and down while city sta ers learned of the red tape at the state level, collectively we got the job done.

A lot of credit goes to Bill Walenczak who was Westminster’s Director of Parks, Recreation and Libraries and the FRCC sta er who headed up library operations for FRCC in working out the challenges.

First city open space acquisition

Speaking of trivia questions, do you happen to know where the city’s rst open space acquisition was located - even before the voters approved the

SEE CHRISTOPHER, P11

Letter To The Editor

Growth does not lead to the American Dream e Governor would actually like Westminster’s Comprehensive Plan...especially the portion that already accounts for the Uplands development.

e Governor is in full support of new construction, usually at the expense of open space or the re-use of existing structures or re-use of land already set up with infrastructure such as the New downtown....especially if those developments seem to further fund pro ts for out-of-state hedge fund investors, as is the case with the Uplands.

e Governor has shown a real propensity to favor developers who want to “rape the land” with low sustainability “products” that usually involve “Metro Districts” and which cost a lot of money while not really addressing the homeless problem.

New construction and new-constructionhigher prices will support new home buyers coming in from out-of-state, not people already struggling to live here.

Rent Stabilization, on the other hand, would provide breathable relief for those who are presently living in an apartment and want to continue to live in apartment, without fearing the next re-rental increase that can be 10% or much higher. I myself, live in an apartment as a result of losing my home of over 12 years during the 2008-2012 recession. And I am really not that eager to get involved with a new 30-year mortgage that can get dissed at any time when the market changes.

e “American Dream” of a house with a yard, a white picket fence and a 30-year mortgage, is really the dream of Real Estate Brokers, Bankers, Developers (many from out-of-state) and others who make money o of real estate transfers, rather than by providing housing to people who need it.

Karen Kalavity, Westminster

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