A Birthday Letter of Gratitude
Today I celebrate my 38th birthday, what a wonderfully wild ride these 38 trips around the sun have been. I love my birthday, because it is a day that is set aside to celebrate my life. I love to celebrate the day that my Mom delivered me onto this earth. Interesting side note: I was born a week after my due date and I never thought this was an accident, I always felt like it was divine timing. It was as if I knew that I needed just a little bit more time to gather the final moments of strength and growth before entering the realm of planet earth. I am a woman who needs her downtime, her naps, alone time to replenish, 9 hours of sleep every night and gentle self-care practices. I think I was taking that final week to gather all the strength I needed to come into this lifetime as prepared as I could be (we are never truly prepared, are we?).
As I celebrate another journey around the sun, I reflect on gratitude. Thanksgiving is a few days away and the combination of my Birthday and Thanksgiving always leaves me feeling deeply reflective, grateful, and perhaps a bit nostalgic. Last weekend I finally had the chance to go to the beach and I found myself struck with deep gratitude. I thought to myself as I was lying on my beach towel, sweet, sweet, sweet life. Oh how sweet you can be, amongst the chaos, the truly extraordinary circumstances that have been thrust into our lives this year there are still these absolute moments of wonderful beauty and I soak them up with a deep gratitude.
I am awash in this gratitude as I am laying on the beach, finally feeling the sun on my skin, feeling the gentle breeze blow across my body, listening to the waves crash onto the shore and retreat back out into the sea. I can hear my sand dwelling neighbors playing a game of paddle ball in the surf, I can hear the casual conversation of the beach group behind me and I inhale a long and wonderful breath of salty air. My body is drying off from a dip into the ocean and the heat from the sun feels absolutely delicious. I raise my book to read and feel such gratitude, I am re-reading “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle and relishing each page. I am flooded by a deep appreciation for this present moment. For the 38 years of life that led me to this seashore, to this exact slice of time. My life is far from perfect, these past few years have been some of the hardest of my entire life, and yet here I am. I am here, I am healthy, I am breathing on a beach basking in the sunlight. Gratitude engulfs me from the very top layer of my skin all the way down to my soul.
Coming to the end of such a tumultuous year you may feel exhausted, ready to move on and leave 2020 in the dust, and I get that! However, during this time of Thanksgiving I want to explore the concept of gratitude. How can we soften a little bit and find gratitude in these extraordinary times? Gratitude is a concept that has deep roots in our evolutionary history, it is the quality of being grateful and the readiness to show appreciation and return kindness. According to Robert Emmons a scientific expert on the concept of gratitude “Gratitude is an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.” Emmons also explains that gratitude is when “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.”
During stressful times we can choose to look for the silver linings, for the positivity and for the good that does exist outside of ourselves. In this time of Covid as we enter into the holiday season and the end of the year I encourage you to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, actively noticing and acknowledging ALL of the good elements in your life that exist outside of you. The friends that are always there for you through life’s ups and downs, send them a hand written note expressing your gratitude. That colleague that always has your back and believes in your ideas, tell them how much their support means. It is these acts of kindness that keep us moving forward during the tough days and truly make our world a kinder place. Showing gratitude can come in many forms from simple gestures of kindness to thoughtful gifts. Take a moment and think about 3 people that you can express gratitude towards and the best way to honor the goodness that they have brought into your life, if you need a few ideas of how to show gratitude there are 5 ways below to get you started on your gratitude journey!
5 Easy Ways to Show Gratitude:
- Hand written note
- Verbally communicating your gratitude
- Cooking your partner/loved ones favorite meal
- Give a thoughtful gift
- Be present during your interactions!
Be kind, be patient, find a slice of happiness and gratitude today. No matter how small it will open you up to the positivity that exists all around you!
Have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
