World Teachers’ Day, Oct. 5. This day aims to focus on "appreciating, assessing, and improving the educators of the world."

World Smile Day, Oct. 7. World Smile Day celebrates the ever popular yellow smiley face. It also offers us an opportunity to do an act of kindness.

Columbus Day, Oct. 10. This day commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 10. A holiday that celebrates and honors Native Americans and commemorates their history and culture.

Halloween, Oct. 31. Trick or treat!

What a pleasure it is to write to you again. Every October I am instantly filled with that warm, fall-ish feeling - you know, the promise of early sunsets and holiday gatherings. I can almost smell the Thanksgiving turkey cooking in the oven!

I love this time of year because it’s the start of what I like to call the “slow, cooler days,” with the changing of the leaves and, for some of us, the whispers of snow. It’s the time when the environment gets rougher and life gets just a smidge simpler. It’s the time for family, close friends, quality time, and hearty food.

Embrace “the slow,” because we know it moves quicker than we think it will. Every year seems to get faster and faster, and this precious time of stillness is an opportunity to lean in, slow down, and just be.

Enjoy the start of the holiday season and enjoy the company of friends and family.

Sincerely,

Gino Pezzani

Your Real Estate/Mortgage Consultant For Life

No matter how much you enjoy your work, you may wonder what another profession would be like. But you should be careful not to wind up wandering off your desired career path. Before pulling up stakes, be sure you:

Know what you want. Your manager has offered you a promotion. Before you jump at the chance, consider whether the promotion is in line with your long-term career goals. If not, find the courage to be honest with your boss and to act in your own best interest, even if others disapprove or are disappointed.

Listen to your instincts. We all have an inner voice that tries to get our attention when something’s not quite right. The problem is we frequently silence our inner voice by focusing on what we think we should do. Thoughts like, “It’s not what I want, but if I pass up this opportunity, I may not get another,” or “I’m not comfortable here, but I can adapt.” Pay attention to your feelings before making big decisions about your career.

Change your mind when you need to. You’ve lobbied for an opportunity and now it’s yours. Before you act, ask yourself a few questions. Is the timing right? Is the salary adequate? Have your ambitions changed? You’re better off changing your mind than taking a job you don’t really want, perhaps depriving a better-suited person of the opportunity. Make the choice that’s right for you today.

Did you know that Sept. 21 is International Gratitude Day?

I’m certainly grateful for having autumn creeping upon us. The nights aren’t as warm as they were even a few weeks ago and stores have already begun stockpiling everything pumpkin-related.

However, I’m also grateful for something much more traditional as many people return to school in the fall—teachers. We are constantly learning—from the time we are born to our last days. This learning occurs not just in a classroom for the first 18 or so years of life, but also as young adults finding our way in the world, as parents and grandparents, and late in life when we have more time to spare and choose to learn something purely for ourselves.

I am most appreciative of the teachers who turn up when we are not looking to learn something new. Those unexpected teachers come out of nowhere. They are the elderly ladies with time to chat, the child who surprises us with insight that many adults overlook, and the average person who takes the time to explain a process, in common terms, that is specific to his or her field of expertise.

Who are the unexpected teachers in your life? Have you told them that they positively changed you, irrevocably, by teaching you something new? Perhaps this would be a good week to share your gratitude.

A teacher who made a difference at some time in your life would probably appreciate a simple card, an unexpected phone call, or even an email from you. This gesture might just lead to a larger conversation and a deeper friendship. If nothing else, you made someone’s day with a positive comment by simply expressing your gratitude. After all, one of the first things we are taught in preschool or kindergarten is to say, “Thank you.”

In Gratitude,
Gino Pezzani
DIEN Realty
604-418-9366

A 55,000-year-old human skull has shed new light on human development, according to the Sci-News website. The skull, discovered in Israel’s Manot Cave, belonged to an anatomically modern human who lived in the region at the same time as Neanderthals, suggesting that modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted some 10,000 years earlier than scientists previously thought. The Manot humans may in turn be closely related to the humans who eventually migrated to Europe between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago.

Are you in the right career? Don’t waste your time if you’re running up against these obstacles. Zenopa suggests you consider these three things:

1.  You feel unappreciated. Your managers don’t show your work and results the respect you believe they deserve.
 
2.  You’ve lost your passion. You no longer believe in the mission of your organization.
 
3.  You’re not being challenged. You’re doing the same job day after day without learning new skills.

If you're not satisfied in these three areas, it may be time for change. Or you may find you're happier than you realized and no change is needed!

A man found a cocoon resting on a branch. He sat and watched for several hours as the butterfly inside struggled to push its body through the small hole at the top.

Suddenly the butterfly stopped making any progress. It seemed to be stuck. The man decided to help the butterfly. He used a knife to snip off the cocoon. The butterfly emerged with a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man sat waiting for the wings to enlarge and support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly was unable to fly, and it crawled around with its tiny wings and swollen body until it fell to the ground and died.

The man didn’t understand that the butterfly’s struggle to get free of the cocoon was nature’s way of forcing fluid from its body into its wings to prepare it for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

Moral: Our struggles in life often develop our strengths.

As more and more people return to work, it's obvious that Zoom meetings aren’t going away. Some of us will continue working from home at least part-time, and there will always be long-distance meetings that require video. If the thought of another Zoom meeting fills you with anxiety — which is not uncommon these days — consider this advice from the Psych Central website:

Minimize yourself on screen. Many of us are self-conscious about our appearance, and being in a Zoom meeting can make that worse. Choose a view that doesn’t put you front and center. Zoom has a “Hide Self View” option so you don’t have to look at yourself while you’re talking.

Turn off your video. You may be intimidated by the sight of all those faces on your screen. You can go audio only and turn the Zoom meeting into a typical conference call. You may not be able to do this all the time, but it can relieve anxiety if you're able to do this. You can also switch to “Speaker Only”—many virtual meeting platforms allow you to adjust your settings so you can only see one person at a time as they speak.

Be mindful when moving. You may feel like you can’t move at all when you’re on video, but that will only make you more uncomfortable. The key is to move slowly, with intention, when you have to stretch, take a drink of water, or handle something temporarily offscreen. You’ll feel better in general if you keep both feet firmly on the floor to ground yourself during the meeting.

She signaled to the waiter—who politely informed her that she must be mistaken because each table always had one salt shaker and one pepper shaker. The woman quietly picked up the first shaker and sprinkled a little pepper on the side of her plate.Then she picked up the second shaker and did the same. The waiter apologized profusely, then rushed to bring a salt shaker. He returned with the maitre d’ who offered complimentary desserts to atone for the mistake.

"My goodness,” the woman said, somewhat embarrassed by the attention. “It’s not that important. It was just a simple mix-up.”

“But, madame,” the maitre d’ replied, “what if you had been the Queen?”

Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It’s a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the United States.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first to suggest a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But other research seems to support the contention that machinist Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

The Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic. Either way, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on Sept. 5, 1883.

In 1884, the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday. As labor organizations grew in size and power, so did the idea of Labor Day. In 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

The first governmental recognition of the holiday came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. While the first state bill proposing the holiday was introduced into the New York legislature, Oregon passed the first law on Feb. 21, 1887.

Four more states—Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York—created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment that same year. By the end of the decade, Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.