2016 Stories – 37 – Forty-Two

Forty-two.

I turned 42 yesterday. Forty-two trips around the sun. Part of me can’t believe how many years I’ve already lived and part of me feels like I have lived enough lifetimes to be much older. I know that some people have a tough time with getting older. While I can definitely understand that, I’m not one of those people. At least not now. I am grateful to get to have another year under my belt. Another year spent with the people I love. Another year spent doing art. Reading books. Snuggling. Learning. Crying, laughing, hoping, wishing, dreaming.

Grateful for all the years of my life.

I tend to pick my words in January and make my lists and plans at the beginning of the calendar year, so I don’t use the school year or my birthday (both of which magically happen to be in September) as a time to make lists, plans or goals. In fact, my birthday is one of the few days I try to live without a todo list of some kind. I take the day off work and just try to be. Be still. Be peaceful. Be quiet.

It’s my moment to appreciate the journey so far.

I’ve worked hard for much of my life but I’ve also been incredibly lucky in more ways that I can describe. While I’ve tried not to take that luck for granted, I know it’s impossible to do that. I know that there’s so much I just assume. So much that I don’t appreciate as deeply as I really should. And on this day, I just want to sit in the miracle that is my life.

I am not sure what I did to deserve all this. I am not sure what tomorrow will bring. I am not sure of anything. But I know that I am here today and I know that I am blessed.

And so very thankful.

Here’s to another year around the sun.

Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.