Today I celebrate my birthday and today I also celebrate the courage, vision and love that my parents had that took them from the farms of Ireland to America during the Great Depression to eventually give me a great life and the America Dream.
it's funny how when I was younger I would get depressed on my birthday and eventually I turned it into my one and only Designated Depression Day and finally I decided I didn't need to be depressed for even one day and let that go. Now I see it my birthday more as a Designated Gratitude Day. A day when I can focus on all I am grateful for.
So today I celebrate all I am grateful for and it is a very very long list. Thank you to my family, especially my new Irish family, friends and all those who have touched my life over the years and gave me the gift of your friendship, love, humor, company and contributed to who I am today. It's been a long and interesting journey. You're in my memory and my heart. Thank you.
I got a special package from My Cousin Marie all the way from the mountain of Glanduff Ireland. She sent me a Irish Baseball hat and scarf and birthday card.
My cousin is 65 years old and rides her bike up and down the mountain 1/2 hours each way to get to the town to buy the present and to mail it to me. Truly a gift and some sacrifice from the heart. I can't convey how special a birthday present it is and how it is a symbol of the love that is in my life that I feel so grateful for.
So my birthday today will look like this:
Exercise - The Steps in Santa Monica
Meditating, Journaling and Visioning and for my future @ the Self Realization Gardens in Santa Monica
Create a Vision Board for 2010
Volunteering for a 1/2 day packing care packages @ Operation Gratitude
Working / Writing on my Documentary. TV Series Proposal and my Memoir Book
A special dinner with my family.
And having my cousin Sharon and her family calling me from Germany to sing me a Happy Birthday
Calling my Aunt Maggie and Cousin Marie in Ireland to share my day with them
And receiving Birthday wishes from my family on the East Coast and from all my friends on FB
It doesn't get better than this......
I believe my best years are still ahead of me and I look forward to achieving more, contributing more and living an even more fulfilling life.....
So a toast..... Slainte
I share this day with all my family and friends and say Thank you
John Duffy
No comments:
Post a Comment