36 reasons for gratitude.

Tonight – on the eve of my thirty-sixth birthday – I took myself away from my family holiday in South Africa for a few hours to reflect upon what tomorrow and this number means to me.

Much like Christmases over the last few years, I specifically requested that no gifts be bought or offered for this birthday: I know I have enough already. I consciously choose the richness of experiences over anything that can be wrapped in paper.

I believe that with an in-built sense of plenty, this life can be approached with a more refined sense of consideration. In doing so I trust that the planet will receive greater respect, and as a result all the people on it will have a fairer share of it’s resources.

To mark my birthday, I decided to be specifically grateful. I came up with thirty-six reasons to be filled with gratitude:

1. I am surrounded by love.
2. I have a supportive, generous and kind family.
3. I am blessed with friends that I can easily call family.
4. I am as nourished as I choose to be – always.
5. I woke up this morning.
6. I had a bed to sleep in last night.
7. I had a clean floor under my feet when I rose today.
8. I am deeply connected to the blue mat upon which I complete my daily practice.
9. I have a limited amount of breaths on this planet – I aim to make each one long and deep, and make them all count.
10. I have a body that responds in kind to how I treat it.
11. I am able to understand my own mind more each day; I increasingly see my own patterns, reactions, habits and nuances, and know how to work around them.
12. I can walk – far, and unaided.
13. I feel sand between my toes on a regular basis.
14. I have eyes to gaze up at the stars on a clear night.
15. I see my own relevance.
16. I see my own irrelevance.
17. I am able to communicate with my friends all round the world at the click of a button.
18. I am a white male, and I admit to the privilege that this has afforded me since birth.
19. I give thanks for the patience, determination and forgiveness of all those that are neither male nor white.
20. I have a passport that allows me to travel and learn from an almost unlimited number of cultures.
21. I fly, often.
22. I know that in acknowledging and dealing with my own negative emotions I limit the destruction that they can cause further down the line.
23. I have not consumed an alcoholic drink since 28^th August 2016.
24. My teachers are everywhere, everyday – all I need to do is remain open to their lessons.
25. I have the gift of reasoning, so I know that we humans are neither worse nor better than each other, or any other species on this planet.
26. I seek authenticity in all my relationships – personal and professional.
27. I understand that every person on the planet has a different view of it.
28. I am an openly gay man and I am free to love whomever I choose.
29. I give thanks for vegan chocolate – daily.
30. I have the ability to dream – big.
31. I have seen sunrise and sunset from six continents.
32. I see that depression finds its roots in lack of acceptance of the past.
33. I know that anxiety is a fear of the future.
34. I can say that drugs have been in my rearview mirror for 19 months now.
35. I made it to thirty-six almost seamlessly. Almost.
36. I started this list thinking I would struggle to fill it, when in truth I could go on…funny how the mind works, isn’t it?

With gratitude,

Nathan