The Most Important Thing To Never Forget

I’m in a particularly thankful mood tonight. Perhaps it’s because I’ve just finished another enjoyable week of my investment banking summer internship, or because it has just been Christmas, or even because I’ve spent another evening listening to the nostalgic, family value themed country music I love so much. Whatever the reason, tonight I want to pen my thoughts about what I believe is the most important thing to never forget: gratitude. This post will be shorter than usual because I’ve just finished another week of an internship that keeps me very busy, but hopefully it resonates with some of you in spite of its brevity.

I’m an extremely “selfish” person, if you define selfish to mean wanting and striving for what’s beneficial to and enjoyable for me. To avoid deviating completely from the topics discussed on this site, I’ll add that my “selfishness” has worked out well for me; I’m currently a student at one of the top universities in the world and an investment banking summer analyst at a strong global bank.

I’m both proud of my current station in life and humbled by my fortune in achieving it, but it’s not the topic of this post. I’m not nearly delusional enough to think that I am solely responsible for my achievements, and in fact strongly believe that the people in my life, and what they’ve done for me, deserve much more recognition than I have ever received for anything I’ve done and may receive for anything I will do.

Those of you who have read some of my other posts will know that I’ve made some significant mistakes, and you may have seen the comments congratulating me on getting past them. Even there, the credit probably largely lies elsewhere. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have family, mentors and friends who have encouraged me, helped me, made sacrifices for me and even set me straight when necessary. As a result of the people in my life, I’m well aware that anything I may achieve will only partially belong to me.

This post was prompted, in part, by a realization that the important people in my life may not fully understand their significance to me. In my head I consciously and subconsciously express my gratitude daily, but haven’t explicitly thanked the people in my life for their influences on me. That will change immediately and permanently. I apologize if this post has fallen short of what you may have wanted it to be, but I wanted to reiterate the importance of expressed gratitude to others in similar positions to me.

Isaac Newton once said, (something along the lines of) “if I see farther than others, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” Who are the giants in your life? Do they know what they mean to you? Even if unlike me, you hate Christmas and aren’t currently listening to great country music, hopefully after reading this you’ll agree that they should. Remember to share your gratitude; it’s the most important thing to never forget.