Little kids love their birthdays. They get to be star for the day, get presents, cake and ice cream. What’s not to love? But as the birthdays pile up we’re not so thrilled to see another on the horizon. My grand daughter got some much coveted red sparkly shoes for her 3rd birthday. She loved them so much she slept in them for weeks.
OK generally we don’t get thrilling presents. But we do get some priceless, money-can’t-buy gifts:
We have lived long enough to see people who deserve it - get theirs. We see public people like Bernie Madoff go to jail. But even better, we get to see people who did us wrong get theirs too. That’s a good feeling.
We get perspective. Our world is in great turmoil. It seems daily there’s another unimaginable disaster like the Japanese have suffered. The North African people are trying to throw off dictators decades in power. Our own people are polarized, scared and angry. But we remember the 60’s when many thought the world was coming to an end. We remember Vietnam, heart breaking assignations, and great progress like civil rights and the women’s movement. We can look at current events and see good coming from all that we see. That a gift worth having.
We get the fruits of our labors. We see our children doing well. We see the benefits of caring lovingly for our bodies all these years. We enjoy our grandchildren as all their life giving energy flows all over us. We have time to enjoy our blessings. That’s a priceless gift.
We can see ourselves as survivors – not victims. Many of us have lived through traumatic events, tragic losses, financial reverses and health issues. But we’re still here with wisdom that only comes with age and experience. No one can take that from us.
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