Whenever Thanksgiving draws close, I start thinking about the year that is just about to pass. What were the high points? What, in the end, really mattered? What am I truly Thankful for?

What I realized this year was this: With all of the uncertainty around me, I am truly thankful for those things that were certain.

The people and things that, no matter what else happened, I knew I could rely on. The things that made the most sense, because they reflect who we are as human beings.

Thinking about what is certain in your life is an important exercise, especially now. If there was one word I heard again and again in 2021, it was the word “uncertainty,” and it’s not hard to see why. People wondered when the pandemic would improve. What the stock market was going to do. What new people in office would do. What the harvest would bring. 

But even with all that uncertainty, there were certain constants in my life. My family and friends. My “CPL family” here at Copper Peak. My love of the industry, and the fun-loving-yet-resilient spirit of the people in it. The guiding idea that, if you treat people well, they will return the favor—and you will sleep better at night, too.

In uncertain times, those things can be your North Star, guiding you in the right direction no matter what.

News stories come and go. Trends come and go. Politics comes and goes. But coworkers who care, clients and partners who are honest and fair, friends who are always there…those are things that tend to stick around. In a year of uncertainty, I can be certain of those things.

And it is that certainty for which I am most thankful.

So my challenge for readers this year is this. Stop and take a look around. Ask yourself what, and who, you are most certain about.

Then let those things be your North Star going into the new year.