This is Monday of the first of two holiday weeks. This is a good time to pull back a bit, reflect on things from a different perspective. It’s really good that our various religions, cultures, and traditions remind us, every once in a while, to slow down and think. Especially this year, which has been a tough one for a lot of us, an especially difficult year for small business, entrepreneurship, economics, health care, and politics.

Let’s pause a bit from normal business. Let’s think about what matters most, whatever that is, for each one of us. And then ask whether the way we spend ourselves – time, effort, stress, dreams – matches what’s most important to us.

One thing I’d like to suggest, is looking for the common denominators we can all agree on. Like compassion. That ought not to be controversial.

I don’t mean to be “preachy” (my daughter’s word). When I get all goody-goody like this, please don’t ask my wife about it. I can be as hypocritical as the next person, but jeez, at least we can remind each other once in a while, no? In this context, I’m really glad the well-known words of wisdom are “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Instead of “let he (or she) who is without sin write blogs.”

Especially during the holidays.

And thank you for reading this blog. I like writing it and I’m grateful that my readership has grown a lot this year. Thanks for linking here, thanks for tweeting here, and thanks especially for your comments.

(Photo credit: Winter in Yosemite Valley, by Peter Weber, via Shutterstock)