Yesterday was my birthday and it felt to me like the day went extremely unacknowledged. I know that my perception isn't accurate. My birthday has been celebrated and discussed with my family for a few weeks now. I got two phone calls, one from my mom and one from my gammy first thing in the morning with birthday wishes and off key singing. I received a card in the mail from a friend and one in person from a classmate. I got a new smartphone last Saturday as a gift with no cost to me. I was pampered at the spa on Tuesday night. I got what I really wanted on Monday evening with the company I kept. My birthday truly wasn't unacknowledged and yet yesterday a feeling of melancholy still persisted.
I don't want to be a person that's difficult to please. I don't want to be person that can't appreciate the blessings in my life. I want to radiate gentleness. I want to lighten the hearts of others not weigh them down. I want to be touched in my soul by gestures and sights big and small. I want to be malleable to the beauty all around me.
In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, there is a monologue by Friar Lawrence to Romeo who is whining about his banishment from Verona after slewing Tybalt who was trying to kill him. Here's a little summary of what he says:
"Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,
I thought thy disposition better tempered...
What, rouse thee, man! Thy Juliet is alive,
For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead—
There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slew’st Tybalt—there art thou happy.
The law that threatened death becomes thy friend
And turns it to exile—there art thou happy.
A pack of blessings light upon thy back,
Happiness courts thee in her best array..."
"Happiness courts thee in her best array..." Word. What a phrase. It's true you know, we can become so accustomed to the many privileges we possess we don't even appreciate them anymore. Count your blessings today, knowing you're a blessing to me. xo
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