The Art of Being Aware

November 24 2023 Day 24

I'm learning that being grateful and being aware don't have to be mutually exclusive.

It's easier, baby, being grateful when you hit the life lottery – born where we were, family who we have, background and culture as it is. But the fact that it's easy doesn't mean we shouldn't be.

And being grateful is tricky, no? After all, gratefulness is in direct opposition to ambition. Being grateful is often read as being happy with what you have, and striving for more, for better, is often compared against those that have less. In this country, those two ambitions – to be thankful and to work hard to achieve rarely exist together.

Be thankful. The call goes out during this time of year. Meanwhile, every other aspect of our lives is telling us to pedal faster. We sit back this week, stuff ourselves, surround ourselves with those we love. And then tomorrow – well, tomorrow is cold turkey sandwiches – but soon, it's time once again to strive, to attain. And rarely is success (sadly) equated with sitting back, stuffing ourselves and being around those we love.

See where I'm trying to go here? If you do, let me know, because I'm not so sure myself.

I think... I think, this is where being aware comes in. Can I be aware of how fortunate I am to have you, to have your mother, to have a loving family, in my life, while at the same time working to make that life better? Can I be aware of having so much, while at the same time feeling empathy toward those that do not and working to make their lives better as well?

This is hard stuff. And I'm not virtue signaling here, I promise.

I look at this picture of you and your cousins, eight years apart, and gratefulness burns in my heart like a supernova, but so does the desire to succeed to the extent that you will never want in your life. Are these feelings two sides of the same coin? Do they feed off each other, like some mutual yin/yang?

I'm going to conclude... that I do not know. All these decades in and I'm still trying to work this all out.

So, this week my child, just forget about all this stuff. This week, there is only stuffing, and a table full of people who love you, and cats, and a weird dog, and two young men who are kind enough to be big brothers.

Someday, we'll talk about this. Someday, you'll read something in a textbook about this day and I'll have to gently explain the real history to you. Someday, you'll ask the same questions, and I'll have the same answers – I don't know, but keep trying, keep thinking about it, be loving, be grateful and be aware. Always.