As we approach Thanksgiving this week, I am moved by a series of events that have occurred over the past few days, and wonder when we, as human beings, will ever begin to GET IT.  My description for the inability to get it is often times caused by Hubris.  Don’t get me wrong, one does not run hospitals, research institutes, or work for Fortune 500 companies without experiencing this phenomena, but it typically rears its ugly head when you least expect it, and it can be lethal on so many levels.

Several months ago, I had written a blog regarding this topic, and the subject was similar.  Intelligence, experience, and large amounts of education can lead to failure due to hubris, but so too can ignorance.  One of my former CEO’s used to smile and say, “They don’t know what they don’t know.”   Inevitably, the person to whom he was referring had taken a stand on a topic about which they felt extremely confident, but, in fact, did not have the full story as to what the outcome would or could be.   In fact, his expression represented more or less the fact that they were setting themselves up to fail and fail miserably.

The old adage revolving around history  that reveals itself time and time again  is that, “Unless we pay attention to history, it will  repeat itself.”

This Thanksgiving season, take some time to contemplate those things that are most important to you, and then take a little more time to demonstrate your appreciation for those things . . . and when I say things, I don’t mean material things.  Friendships, loved ones, church, relationships, health . . . As I reflect upon the past decades, it becomes abundently clear that these are the ONLY THINGS that matter.  The rest of it is simply earning a living.

It was always my feeling that Europeans generally seem to work to live and Americans live to work . . .

Let’s take some time this week to live, to embrace those individuals that we love and to help anyone that we can to understand that intelligence, ego, self-confidence and ability are all good things, but that very few of us know everything that there is to know about every topic.   Let’s help those who are open to your experience to realize that we could all benefit from having a support network, a team, a group of friends and co-workers who can complete the Emotional Quotient categories that we do not personally understand or embrace.

So much of the pain that we see in our world comes from hubris . . . and that ego driven, intellectual effeitness can not only lead us into wars, it can pave the way to poverty, hunger, collapse, bankruptcy, and failure on so many levels.

Maybe, for some of us, a piece of humble pie would go a long way this year,but whatever the case, take some time to smell the roses, and realize that YOU did not create those roses and, by the way, will not be able to replicate them from scratch in your laboratory.