Gratitude: A Way of Life

My birthday was last Saturday ... nothing significant, not even a major turn-over (that's next year) ... just a quiet Saturday that also happened to be a birthday. And I was grateful for that peace, especially in comparison to less-quiet birthdays past. I received literally hundreds of birthday wishes on Facebook that day. It was amazing. And I made sure that I thanked each person individually; not just a generic "thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone" status statement ... but real, individual thank yous to each person. It took up a big chunk of the day, but it was worth it. I felt really good about that.

The day after my birthday is actually when the "12 Days of Christmas" starts. It was that day -- Sunday -- that I learned that I finally have a ride to Orlando with an old friend for a rather big reunion event that I actually planned and am supposed to host. Since it was just 2 weeks away, I was a little worried that I might not be making it to my own creation! But now, I'll be there. Whew!

Then I opened my mail on Monday to discover that "I won" a new book -- that's in quotes, because although the book was delivered to the right address, the name on the address label was to one "Sherry Chandler." None of my neighbors have that name, so it wasn't an address typo. There was no invoice, just a stamp on the box that said: You won! What is the book, you ask? It's "Gratitude: A Way of Life" by Louise Hay of Hay House. Hay House is the same publishing company that puts out Wayne Dyer's books and many other spiritual, personal, psychic development books. The curious arrival of this book into my life is an obvious sign, so the lesson started that very day: Thank you, strange, wonderful universe.

Then on Wednesday, another friend called and said, "What are you doing Friday night? I just won tickets to see Billy Crystal and I want to take you!" I jumped at it, mostly because I don't get out much these days, but also because I'd heard rave reviews about that Broadway show of his... something like it being the highest grossing, non-musical in Broadway history.

On Thursday night, my mother showed up at my door unannounced with a bunch of cash in hand, saying to me: "Go buy yourself something nice for that Orlando event. Consider it a late birthday present!" Wow, very cool! Especially since the shoes that I was going to wear to the event literally fell apart in my hands earlier that day as I tried to polish them.

On a rainy, Friday rush hour evening, it ended up taking us 2.5 hours to get to the venue (in "good" traffic, it's supposed to be 42 minutes), with my generous friend and I fretting that we might not make it there in one piece, or if we did, that they were going to lock the doors and not let us in ... plays are like that. The venue was much more gracious and understanding, however. Well, first off, the parking deck attendant let us park in one of the reserved spots right up front ... very awesome. Then, the usher ladies were extremely sweet and even let us bring food in! We were both starving, but the venue only had snack things, so we feasted on mini ice cream sundaes and M&Ms like we were 5-year-olds.

We ended up missing the first 30 minutes or so, but the show has a running time of 3 hours, with an intermission, so we really weren't lost. And the laughs started immediately and never stopped (except when there were tears). It's an amazing one-man show, really. The time just flew by and was full of information about Mr. Crystal that most folks never knew. Did you know about his family's little record label that played a huge role in the history of jazz? Did you know that he sat on Billie Holiday's lap while watching his first big screen movie, SHANE? Did you know that he was on his high school basketball team and that they played Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's high school team once? Crazy! If you get the chance to see him perform "700 Sundays," you'll hear those stories and so many more. His life wasn't always good, but it was always amazing.

So now I sit here wondering what other "gifts" the universe might have in store for me. Honestly, it's been a great week and I could never have imagined last Saturday that it would end up the way it did. Good surprises are the best! You know what else is the best? Thank yous, so I'll say it again:

Thank you, strange, wonderful universe!

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UPDATE! Just a few hours after this post, my Saturday gratitude gift came in the form of the only thing that was in my mailbox today: a belated birthday card from my father with some not-too-shabby birthday money inside. Wow! If you knew my dad, you'd know how rare and generally unlikely that would be for me. THANK YOU AGAIN, STRANGE, WONDERFUL UNIVERSE!