I would not be able to do my job or many other things in my life if it weren’t for many others.

While I get the kids breakfast and drop them at school, my wife picks them up enabling me to work beyond school hours. The teachers at the school teach our kids things we don’t have to and enable us to work. There are countless colleagues at work who help me with my tasks, teach me, encourage me, and help me find solutions to challenges we face. Farmers grow food I cannot and builders have helped renovate our home.

And if I think a bit more long term, I see everything my. parents gave to me, which enables me to be who I am today. I see my brothers, my aunts and uncles, my teachers, professors, and friends. The list of enablers in my life is long and special.

And that’s just the people. There is so much more that enables me – the passports I hold, the colour of my skin, the access to internet, roads, healthcare, and so on. The context in which I live and the culture of which I am a part of. And yes, that which enables can also be a barrier, but let’s stay positive for today.

None of us are ‘self-made’. None of us are an island to ourselves. We are all enabled by others. It is easy to blame others for the challenges we face or they bring, but how often do we pause and recognise/acknowledge how others enable us.

Perhaps pause for a moment today and thank those who enable you to do what you do.

The choice is up to us.

Photo by Neil Thomas