Gratitude Keeps Me Young: Celebrating Birthdays Beyond Forty!
With a few decades of life under my belt, I feel qualified to share a bit of wisdom. ;) This year’s birthday reflexion is inspired by researcher Dr Ali Binazir. He asked, “What are the odds that you exist as you today?”
He summed up his findings with an analogy: “Imagine there’s one life preserver (floating) somewhere in some ocean and there is exactly one turtle in all of the oceans- swimming underwater somewhere. The probability that you came about and exist today is the same as that turtle sticking its head out of the water in the middle of that life preserver— on one try.”
Basically, the odds of you (or me) being alive are ZERO. So, basically*… we are all miracles! (For clarity, Merriam-Webster defines a miracle as “a highly improbable event or development that brings very welcome consequences.”)
Which brings me to my last point- “very welcome consequences.” Let’s be real, guys: Are you living your life in such way to bring “very welcome consequences” to the world? I’ll let you wrestle with your own conscience. In the meantime, I’m happy to share what I learned through an unfathomable mix of disappointments, triumph and loss in 2018:
It is the energizing chill of the marble floor beneath my feet when I jump out of bed. It is sprinting up the stairs in the airport to skirt herds of travelers crowding the escalators. It is the sun warming my nose during a winter walk. And the juice of cold watermelon running down my chin on a hot day. It is the soothing lull of raindrops on a tin roof at night. It’s being the first to smile or say hi. It’s keeping promises to myself. And helping third-graders practice for the spelling bee. It is pausing at the window to watch the fast-changing colors painted by sunsets. And rising in the dark to watch the moon fade into a sunrise. And daring to wonder what possibilities the day might hold.
“It” is gratitude. It is about “being here now,” as the late Spartacus actor Andy Whitfield used to say. It’s appreciation for the reliability and transformative power of the “ordinary”— like a healthy body that serves our efforts and desires, a mind that connects us to meaningful interactions and senses that allow us to experience the world in high definition.
Gratitude shapes our perspective. It distinguishes between “I get to watch the sunrise” and “I have to wake up early.” And encourages us to be laser-focused on what we have and what we can do— not on what’s missing or what’s holding us back.
Abundance or scarcity: mindset is a choice. Choosing abundance brings very welcome consequences to the world. That’s my takeaway for 2018.
Like always, I hope my lessons learned will serve you, too. Thank you guys for being “very welcome consequences” along my path! Now jump off of your device and back into life. Today is another day to be more of the miracle you are!