OBA offices will close early at 1:00 PM on Friday, May 16, and remain closed on Monday, May 19 for the holiday. We will reopen on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.

Appreciate What You Have Today ... and What it Took to Get Here

April 11, 2022

Some wisdom - and perspective - from Southwest Regional Representative on our OBA Board, Doug Ferguson:

I find a moment of gratitude helps to ground me when things are stressful.

I look back at the struggles I've been through - the early passing of my first wife at age 44, being a single dad to two teenagers for five years, nearly dying while undergoing a liver transplant, an unsuccessful run for Parliament in 2011. But then I look at how I overcame those struggles, and where my life is today. Happily remarried, my kids are thriving, my health is good, I'm enjoying my grandchildren, and I have a sense of purpose in this stage in my life. I realize how lucky I am, and how I have successfully met the challenges life has thrown at me.

And some related sage advice from Central East Regional Representative Christine Roth:

Take a moment and think of not what you do not have, but what you do have. Recharge.

Today, we encourage you to reflect on: What are you grateful for and what have you have achieved and overcome to be exactly where you are?