You know, we all spend way too much time focusing on the negative things in our lives and not enough time focusing on giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

I always say that “when you think you are the unluckiest person in the world and things cannot get any worse, you do not have to look far to find someone who is worse off than you.”

Sometimes when things look the darkest, it is therapeutic and helpful to focus on those positive aspects. It is always unhealthy to dwell on the negative.

My mother and Eddie’s grandmother, Nancy West Harrington is, for our family, a symbol of the power of positive thinking and her always cheerful attitude is an inspiration not only to our family but to everyone who has come in contact with her.

Mama will soon be 93 years old, and although her mind is still quite sharp, the years have deprived her of her mobility and she suffers the aches and pains commonly associated with nearly a century of living.

You would never know it from talking to her though.

She always has and remains a cheerful and encouraging and always inspiring presence to all who come in contact with her. She still spends much of her days writing and sending little inspirational notes to friends and family members.

I believe my Mother’s cheery and optimistic view of life was at least partially forged during some of the darkest days in our family’s history, the Battle of Britain in World War II. You see, my Mother grew up in England and was a teenager when Hitler decided to attack her country in 1940.

Certainly it appeared bleak for the Britons during those dark days as the Germans were bombing them on almost a daily basis, and invasion of their homeland seemed imminent. A bomb actually fell in my grandparent’s garden narrowly missing their house.

When my kids were teenagers I used to tell them that while all they had to worry about was what they were going to wear to the Prom or which party they were going to attend, their grandmother, at that same age, had to worry about whether this would be the day a bomb fell from the sky and killed her family or whether her country was about to be invaded by murderous hordes. But in typical British fashion, my mother and most of her fellow countrymen, used that typical British resolve and “stiff upper lip” to get through it all.

During those dark days, the government would try to encourage the populace by creating and issuing a series of posters, one of which had a crown on it, signifying the Royal Family and said “Keep Calm and Carry On.” The posters actually did not get distributed very widely and my mother said she can’t ever remember seeing one in those days. However, a few years ago, they were unearthed and have become quite popular with the “Keep Calm and Carry On” phrase being used in different ways even to advertise many different products.

At The Harrington Law Firm, we have many many things to be thankful for. Most of all, we are thankful for our clients who allow us to handle extremely important matters for them during what is usually a very difficult period in their lives.

Eddie and I try to use the lessons my mother and his grandmother taught us about remaining positive and, we try to convey that spirit to our clients.

No matter how positive a person can be; however, they sometimes find themselves in a situation where they need an attorney. Perhaps they have been in a car accident that was caused by someone else, or having financial problems, or some that are trying to get their social security benefits approved.

In those situations, we want to encourage folks to give us a call and let us help. Accordingly, we have paraphrased the old “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters into “Keep Calm and Call Your Lawyer.” We are using that phrase to let our clients know that we are here to help them with through their difficult situation, be it a car wreck, a bankruptcy, or whatever.

We have even gotten shirts printed up for our clients with the phrase on the front. We felt that this is a way to honor my mother and Eddie’s grandmother and our British heritage, and show our appreciation to our clients all at the same time.

Anyway, we hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Remember, always focus on the positive, always keep calm and carry on and call your lawyer.

-Rodney Harrington, partner, The Harrington Law Firm

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