What Are You Grateful For?

As I sit and look out the window of my first New York apartment, I can’t help but laugh to myself. Like, out loud. You see, no matter what happens in my life, things just always seem to work out. For example, the apartment my new roommate found for us in the lower east side of Manhattan (just writing that puts a smile on my face) is arguably the apartment that people dream about having but don’t end up living in when they move to New York. I mean, are you kidding??? The place is on the top floor and has three balconies for crying out loud! When I feel myself going into What did I do to deserve this? mode, I have to stop because that question implies that I’m somehow unworthy, a word I can honestly say is neither in my vocabulary nor in my ecology. A mentor of mine recently said, “It is a shorter road to decide that worthiness is unimportant than the road to becoming worthy.” Life is just not about worthiness, got it? The truth is that for me, it doesn’t matter why. What does matter is that I’m grateful. I’m so grateful that blessings make me laugh. It’s not like, Haha I KNEW I would get what I wanted! But more like I’m having a chuckle with the personified universe like, Hey, thanks pal, you’re the best.

But what I’m most grateful for is not something tangible. It’s not my car and it’s not my apartment or even the people that are in my life, even though I’m so grateful for all of those things. What I’m most grateful for is the head I have on my shoulders. Not my actual head, smartass, but my overall outlook on life :-) I’m grateful that the things, material or otherwise, that my parents worked hard to give me (and that I realize not a lot of other people get to have) will never change the fact that I believe everyone on this planet, and in the universe, is and should be treated equal. I’m grateful that when there are bumps in the road for me (because there are bumps… lots of them) I don’t slip into a state of “Why me?” or blame others or dwell. I’m grateful that I’m patient with others whose orientation to challenges is to react in the ways I just mentioned. No, I’m not always patient and sometimes I get really frustrated, but I’m learning... There! Right there! Did you catch it? The fact that I accept, no, not just accept but appreciate that I am just learning and that I don’t know everything, I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for being grateful, because some people genuinely don’t see how amazing life truly is.

This outlook, my soul, my culture, my ecology, whatever you want to call it… I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. This awareness of life and how remarkable it is that we’re all here living, I love it. I can’t think about it too much or I start to trip out, but still… it’s awesome. I want to share that love, the awe, that appreciation for all things, good or bad, with everyone. I want people to be happy.

Then there is the issue of suffering. For example, what about the infant in South Africa who contracted AIDS from her mother and lives in extreme poverty, with no food or water or a chance at the kind of life that me and the people around me are used to? Where is the happiness there? In my head and my heart, there is still a capacity for happiness there because I, or you, or anyone, could reach out to that family and help them. No, we don’t have control over whether or not the mother or baby dies, but we never have had control over that and being unhappy because of our lack of control in that situation is futile. But reaching out and recognizing the human in people that we don’t know is what generates true happiness and is what I believe life is all about. It’s like this: I want you to be happy because I’m happy and we’re not so different you and I. Yes, I know that I may not be able to give you everything that I have, but if there is something that you want, I also want those things for you. It is the opposite of envy or jealousy. It’s not all the time that I see the world this way. Sometimes I have to work at it and remind myself, but I always end up right back here in this place of complete gratitude. And that is what I’ve decided my purpose is here in this life: If you need me and if you let me, I will be that gentle, loving, and nonjudgmental reminder of how spectacular your life truly is.


My question to you is this: What are you grateful for?