First, thank you to everyone who sent me greetings and well-wishes for my birthday yesterday. Even if the "lift" of making a social post is small, it provides a nice bit of happiness to one's day. Happiness, for at least some of us, is underrated.
I don't need much of an excuse to engage in philosophical musings, as my long-suffering family and friends can attest. Birthdays have always been an occasion for me to indulge those predilections. Yesterday, though, I was coming up empty. I can always say SOMETHING, but these days I prefer to SAY something.
So today I was plugging along at work, and I circled around to a video that caught my eye yesterday that I had intended to watch. Its creator is someone I follow (I have a thing about music theory, even though I'm a rank amateur), and I assumed it would be about a figure from the music industry. Instead, I watched a very personal tribute to a man who could easily be deemed both ordinary and extraordinary.
I catch myself doing a lot of giving these days. That can be tricky, the giving biz. Sometimes we give away more than we should and save nothing for ourselves. Sometimes we give to strangers and come up short providing for our friends and loved ones. Sometimes we place the wrong value on what we give (in both directions). And sometimes we give the wrong things.
Some things, though, should be given in abundance and without reservation.
Kindness.
Consideration.
Compassion.
Grace.
Gratitude.
Enjoy the video. Contemplate the legacy you want to leave, then "Begin With The End In Mind". Be thankful for the people in your life: past, present, and future. And know that I am grateful for each of you.
