Category: Grateful Heart Monday

Welcome to another chapter of Grateful Heart Monday where every week begins with me expressing a piece of gratitude from my life, which for today is getting to see a very funny Wayne Brady at the Motor City Casino Sound Stage in Detroit, Michigan about a week ago now.

The first time I ever saw Wayne Brady was on television in a show called “Whose Line Is It Anyway” and boy did he make me laugh from the onset. His quick off the cuff and totally random sense of humor that always seems to involve his pretty amazing singing voice and some seriously good dancing skills truly makes for a unique and quite hilarious style of comedy that’s straight up my alley.

The first time I ever saw him perform live was back in Washington D.C. in the early 2000’s at the Kennedy Center and man, his style of comedy was even better in person. So, when I saw he was coming to Detroit’s Motor City Casino in mid-August this year, I made sure to let my sister and my partner know that tickets to it would make a great birthday present when they asked what I wanted for it back in early May.

The truth is, I really needed to see this show because I haven’t been laughing much at all these days. With several tragic losses of close friends and the ongoing saga of health and family issues, I rarely seem to feel any desire to laugh, let alone even smile anymore. But, if anyone was going to make me laugh, it would be Wayne Brady. And that he did. In fact, I laughed so hard during his show that my facial and jaw muscles hurt by the end of it.

They say that laughter is good for the soul and beneficial for healing the mind and body. I’ve even read of stories where people healed themselves of various ailments, including cancer, by watching comedy movies and television shows day in and day out. Thankfully, I can say that Wayne Brady definitely helped me on that path, as I felt a whole heck of a lot better after his performance. Some of that may also be because he actually called on me in the audience at one point and asked what I did for a living. I told him I was in the recovery from alcohol and drug addiction field (which is indeed the only work I’m doing these days), at which point he asked the room to give a round of applause, which frankly felt really good in the moment given how draining recovery has been with so many deaths as of late.

So, yes, I’m extremely grateful for getting to see Wayne Brady in another live performance. The man is definitely most gifted and God has surely blessed him with a talent that seems to make just about any type of audience laugh incredibly, including one that even had a downtrodden me among its midst, which is something I know I truly needed the other day, probably more than any of you may ever know.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Welcome to Grateful Heart Monday where my week always begins with a piece of gratitude from my life, which for today is for a customer service supervisor from Delta who truly offered me a blessing when I most needed it.

I’m sure many could probably think of at least an unpleasant experience or two they’ve had during a call to one of those 800-number customer service hotlines. I know I sure have, but thankfully a few weeks ago that wasn’t the case when I ended up having to call Delta’s 800 number late one Tuesday night to cancel a flight I was on that was only two days away. After suddenly learning that my sister’s husband’s resentments of me had led to him spoiling the surprise of me coming to visit for her 50^thbirthday weekend, I was asked by my sister, who was in a terrible state of anxiety and stress because of it, to reschedule my trip to a later date, one she knew where her husband was going to be away. Needless to say, it would be a gross understatement in saying I wasn’t in the best of headspace when I dialed Delta’s number.

Given I had a non-refundable ticket, I didn’t have very high hopes of what that call was going to achieve, especially after having to wait for a 50-minute callback and another 45 minutes on top of that due to the first agent having constant computer malfunctions. But, my first piece of gratitude came when I was transferred to a supervisor who was very friendly and actually open to listening to all what I was going through. For a good ten minutes I opened up about my struggles with my physical pain, all the issues I had with my sister’s husband, and the state of my mental health over it all. On some level, this woman became like a therapist who was simply willing to listen, something that I often feel many customer service agents don’t do. Thankfully this one did. Because at the end of it, she told me she understood and was willing to change my ticket to the future date with no penalties whatsoever. Even better, the rescheduled flight was about $40 cheaper and became a Delta credit for any flight I may book down the road. But, the biggest blessing came when I asked her name at the end of that call, because it was one that I feel was maybe God sending me a message through.

What was her name?

Grace.

And boy did I get that from her, a lot in fact.

So yes, I feel that I received much of God’s grace through a woman named the same, simply by her just listening to me, offering compassion, and changing my flight with no issues whatsoever. I’m sure when I actually board the new flight a few months from now that I’ll be thinking of her and silently expressing my gratitude to God for a woman He named Grace because I sure got a lot of that late one Tuesday night on a call to Delta’s customer service.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Welcome to today’s Grateful Heart Monday, a time of writing that’s always reserved for expressing some gratitude, which for today is for having a lot more energy and stamina this summer that’s allowed me to do many more activities that I haven’t done in years.

In the past few weeks alone, I attended the Ohio State Fair for the first time and also went to Cedar Point twice (once to the amusement park and once to the water park). Between the three I’ve walked some 40,000 steps and over 15 miles, which for me is a huge, and I mean huge, achievement, as it’s something unheard of in my life over the past bunch of years. Add in my trip to Poughkeepsie where I walked the large grounds of two historic sites and a day I spent in New York City where I traversed much of Manhattan on foot, I’ve actually done more physical activity than any of the previous seven years of my life. It’s not just with places I’ve gone to either because I’ve also been able to do an incredible amount of outdoor yard work this summer as well.

While I may still be dealing with plenty of health limitations, by the grace of God, none of them have stopped me dead in my tracks this summer, as they have in so many prior summers. I’m not exactly sure why this is, but the reality is I’ve been far more physically active ever since the weather began warming up this year.

In light of that, instead of focusing in on any of those physical things that I’ve wished I could do and haven’t been able to yet, I’m simply going to thank God today for the fact that I know my health is improving on every level, because this summer has absolutely, positively been chock full of things I haven’t done for a very long time.

So, for all the gardening and landscaping I’ve done, games of mini-golf I’ve played, rides I’ve ridden, miles I’ve walked, places I’ve travelled to, and the plenty of other things I’ve gotten to try this summer that I haven’t in a long time, I’m grateful to You God, as I can see how much You truly have been answering my prayers and healing me all along.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson