My birthday just passed. Normally I’d take my family to a nice restaurant and that’s our treat. This year, because of covid, that went out the window. We’d stay home.
Because I “lost” something, I asked myself how can I celebrate my birthday this year?
I came up with 3 things:
- Gratitude
- Acknowledgement of what an incredible year this has been
- Spend it with my family
I then started writing a list of what I’ve done, accomplished or am proud of since my last birthday.
The list started growing, and growing. I filled an entire page.
One of my closing comments was: “This has been one of the best years of my life”.
I had to let that sink in. Despite the 2020 “shit show”, I had one of the best years of my life.
I shared the list with a friend that day and she was really moved by the power of it. She commented that it’s so easy for people to write the opposite list, of why everything sucks or what they lost.
I shared my list with my kids at dinner. I wanted them to absorb for themselves that people can still thrive, no matter the narrative going on. It’s important to share that.
My list was my answer for something that I lost – my birthday dinner tradition at our favorite restaurant.
It ended up being an unexpected gift worth a million times more to me.
What can you do to “flip the script” and turn a negative moment into something of extreme personal value for you?
I attended the Brilliance Showcase, and loved your talk and the gratitude box!
Thanks, Leslie. Glad you could make it!
Very true, sometimes the it’s the small things that give people gratitude.
Happy Birthday.
I went through hell with my ex wife and took a huge financial hit from her, but I am grateful for my daughter that we had.
Thanks, Mark. Welcome to the blog :-).