Have you ever had a special day planned, one you were truly looking forward to, only to see it be spoiled somewhat by some health issues when that day arrived? Just a few weeks ago this very thing happened to me on my 43rd birthday, and by the time it was over, I was feeling very sad and frustrated and having no gratitude whatsoever. But thankfully I remembered that gratitude can be practiced at any point in time, even for things that have already taken place, which is precisely what today’s entry is all about, making a little gratitude list for my 43rd birthday.
- I’m grateful that I had my loving partner Chris to spend my birthday with, as there have been many birthday’s where I was either alone or allowing myself to be verbally abused by someone.
- I’m grateful I made it to my recovery home group on my birthday because it’s also the same day I celebrated my AA anniversary. There I received my 20th year medallion, which is a far cry from the many birthdays I never went to a meeting at all and had my medallion sent to me in the mail.
- I’m grateful one of my sponsees and his wife took my partner and I out to a nice lunch by the water on my birthday, as there were so many birthdays I either paid people to go out with me or had to pay for myself when all my friends said they were broke.
- I’m grateful Chris treated me to a one-night stay at an amazing hotel on my birthday. There I enjoyed sitting on my room’s balcony that overlooked a river, relaxing in my room’s huge whirlpool tub, riding down a pretty cool tube-based slide on a raft several times (one even with Chris), and swimming in a very quiet indoor pool. Once again, I can recollect too many birthdays where I paid people to go on a trip with me enticing them with a stay at some lavish hotel.
- I’m grateful for the bountiful German dinner and breakfast I had with my partner on my birthday where I ate things like chicken schnitzel, cheesecake, Quiche Raclette and Austrian pancakes, as there were plenty of birthdays where my meals were nothing to write home about at all.
- I’m grateful for the homemade cheeses and cupcakes Chris bought for me the next morning, as they are treats I’m still enjoying even now. This is definitely different from the many birthdays where I had nothing left to enjoy once the day passed.
- I’m grateful for all those people who either called me, texted me, or Facebook messaged me on my birthday, as there were quite a substantial amount of them. The fact is I’ve experienced far too many birthdays where unless I told people about it, hardly anyone would remember.
- I’m grateful for the conversation I had with my spiritual teacher on my birthday, as she had just the right words to say that helped me to feel a little better, which is contrary to some birthdays where people would tell me to just get over it if I wasn’t feeling so great.
- I’m grateful for the special present my sister sent me on my birthday from Edible Arrangements and for the gift card my partner gave me to Starbucks, as I know there have been birthdays where I didn’t have anything to open at all.
- I’m grateful to my friends Jym and DW for taking care of my home and my cat for free while I was away for the night, as I used to be pretty hard-pressed to find anyone who would do anything for me out of the kindness of their heart on prior birthdays.
- And last, but really the most important to me, I’m grateful to God for helping me have the courage to look back on this year’s 43rd birthday and find some gratitude in it, as I know that there were way too many birthdays throughout my life where I had little to no connection with God at all.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
while I applaud you for being able to find gratitude and positives where you didn’t see them at first, I notice you are dragging a little bit of sadness, pain and resentment along with each gratitude statement. Commit the past to the past, Andrew. Instead of :
“I’m grateful that I had my loving partner Chris to spend my birthday with, as there have been many birthday’s where I was either alone or allowing myself to be verbally abused by someone.”
How does this feel :
“I’m grateful that I had my loving partner Chris to spend my birthday with.”
see what I did there? leave the past where it belongs. in the past.
I totally agree with you Lionel and I knew this when writing it. The only reason why I put that out there on this bit of gratitude was simply because I was trying to show the comparison of how things used to be. Meaning I wanted to show the emphasis on the points that I was grateful for. Normally on my daily gratitude list that I do I don’t write any old past negative stuff at all…