Gratitude / Thanksgiving

I write about gratitude often. I never gave the idea of being grateful much thought at all. Sure, I’d thank people if they gave me something or helped me. I wasn’t rude… but I’m talking about gratitude with a deeper meaning. I’m happy to wake up every morning. There was one time in 2002 when I woke up in an Emergency Room with an oxygen mask on my face. I had been dreaming I was Darth Vader… heavy breathing and sweating. It turns out, I had taken too much of whatever it was that I was taking and washing it down with whatever I could swallow fast enough to leave this stone in space… I sat up on the gurney and looked around, my sticky eyes trying to focus. I saw my hospital co-workers looking at me, some in pity and some, in disgust. I overdosed and woke up in my own E.R. where I worked as a nurse. “How the Hell did it come to this?” Did I learn? Hard question. Not for awhile longer. I got to the bottom of the hole, pulled out a shovel and dug a little deeper. I eventually hurt enough that I asked for the help I desperately needed. It came. It cost.

I’ve had a psychic change. I have changed the way I think. I live in gratitude now. I’m even grateful to the idiots that walk through life around me sometimes… We’ve all seen them. You know the people I’m talking about? Just look at this previous election. Plenty of examples there, I’d say. I’m even grateful to them… a negative example can be just as powerful and instructive as a positive one. What I’m getting at is this: I try to live in gratitude everyday. Simple things. Beauty, life, love, food, friendship…  all of these things become so much more, when you’ve almost lost it all. Today, I worked hard and met a few friends for an hour of pool riding. We were laughing and pushing each other a little. The sky grew darker towards evening and the sunset signed off on our day. It made me feel peace… I’m happy to have such a thing. I’m extremely grateful to have skateboarding and to be able to share it with my friends and all of you out there. Happy holiday. Thanks to MRZ for the images. Skate - Ozzie