A Saturday morning in February, hmmm. I am happy to be alive...there are days that I just wake up knowing I am one very fortunate bastard(Sorry PC Peeps, I get a pass on using the term "Bastard", since I actually am one by definition, haha)to be above ground and suckin' air. I do feel like I dodged a bullet or three, wouldn't you?!
Should I really get into another analogy of what my life was like back in the (HORROR!) day? You know surviving: the grit and grind of life's trials/tribulation's, the miles of hot lava tread barefoot with no end in sight, crawling on my hands and knees through an endless tunnel of liquid shit like Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption (One of my Fav movies of all time, BTW)...you know, those analogies. And I would add that they would be reasonably accurate but NOPE, not today....today I choose to be GRATEFUL.
What am I grateful for? Here are a few examples:
I can WALK: I look rather funny, sorta like a damned duck with a goatee but hey with my broken body and disabilities, I'm still mobile!
I LAUGH: A lot..one of my life's greatest treasures: humor and laughter
I can SEE: Not just w/my eyes but with my mind and my heart, thank you GOD!
I can FEEL: After spending the majority of my life trying NOT to feel or drowning my feelings w/rivers of booze/mountains of drugs..The simple fact that I can still feel is nothing short than a gift from GOD.
I can HEAR: Laughter, like the voices of Angels..Music with my ears and with my heart...the whispers of GOD, who I believe now always spoke to me but hey, I just wasn't listening...the sound of rain, another way that GOD speaks to me and others but you really have to open your heart to hear it!
I can SMELL: That very same RAIN that speaks to me...My Mum and Grandmother frying Bluegill in the kitchen of the old cottage (24 years after Grandma passed away and 15 years after the cottage was torn down)
I can LISTEN: A gift from the CREATOR that I'm just now learning I always had and how to use it...
I SMILE: With my mouth yes but more importantly with my EYES and with my HEART (Another of the amazing gifts from GOD that I always had but just recently learned to use)
I can LOVE: I am learning how to give love as well as receive it, both equally important in my life today...
I am a FRIEND: I cherish and appreciate that amazing relationship we call FRIENDSIP....I truly strive to be a good friend today.
There certainly are many more things I am grateful for and fortunate to have and experience. Far too many to list here but as you can see...I am a fortunate Bastard, no doubt about it.
Each day, as far as this once wretched recovering alcoholic believes, is a GIFT. It is ALWAYS a gift and always will be a gift if we choose to see it for what it is....
I can WALK: I look rather funny, sorta like a damned duck with a goatee but hey with my broken body and disabilities, I'm still mobile!
I LAUGH: A lot..one of my life's greatest treasures: humor and laughter
I can SEE: Not just w/my eyes but with my mind and my heart, thank you GOD!
I can FEEL: After spending the majority of my life trying NOT to feel or drowning my feelings w/rivers of booze/mountains of drugs..The simple fact that I can still feel is nothing short than a gift from GOD.
I can HEAR: Laughter, like the voices of Angels..Music with my ears and with my heart...the whispers of GOD, who I believe now always spoke to me but hey, I just wasn't listening...the sound of rain, another way that GOD speaks to me and others but you really have to open your heart to hear it!
I can SMELL: That very same RAIN that speaks to me...My Mum and Grandmother frying Bluegill in the kitchen of the old cottage (24 years after Grandma passed away and 15 years after the cottage was torn down)
I can LISTEN: A gift from the CREATOR that I'm just now learning I always had and how to use it...
I SMILE: With my mouth yes but more importantly with my EYES and with my HEART (Another of the amazing gifts from GOD that I always had but just recently learned to use)
I can LOVE: I am learning how to give love as well as receive it, both equally important in my life today...
I am a FRIEND: I cherish and appreciate that amazing relationship we call FRIENDSIP....I truly strive to be a good friend today.
There certainly are many more things I am grateful for and fortunate to have and experience. Far too many to list here but as you can see...I am a fortunate Bastard, no doubt about it.
Each day, as far as this once wretched recovering alcoholic believes, is a GIFT. It is ALWAYS a gift and always will be a gift if we choose to see it for what it is....
What are YOU grateful For?
Grateful every day for being blessed enough to have a job (even though it's brutal) and to have a child on the way with a lovely wife.
ReplyDeleteFor good friends, and good blogger friends whom I've never met.
For my livelihood and health.
For my dog Nathan.
I am grateful for the soldiers, cops, firepeople (men and women) for helping secure our freedom everyday
Really touching, man.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful for too many things to list. But above all, I am simply grateful to be alive and able minded.