I’m only 24 hours into it, but I must admit 40 is pretty darn great.

I spent the last few months anticipating this “big” birthday and used so much energy worrying about what I hadn’t accomplished or what I should have done differently.  What I hadn’t been considering were all of the amazing experiences I’ve had in these last 40 years.

I have been to distant lands.  I have met incredible people.  I have been loved.  For crying out loud, I grew two humans and brought them into this world–and they’re actually growing and thriving along with one more (maybe not always clean, but growing and thriving)!

The secret blessing in facing this milestone has been the perspective that grew out of my reflection.  It’s like it never occurred to me before now that for each negative I was focusing on, there was an opposite positive waiting patiently for my attention.

I have a sneaking suspicion there is an  angel who gave me this understanding for my birthday.  She has been on my mind quite a bit lately because of a story I recently shared.  And is if by coincidence, I received an emotionally overwhelming present from my mother today that included a token she believes that angel would want me to have.

If these are the lessons that come with age, I don’t believe I’ll ever feel old.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t survive another gray sky, a series of gorgeous spring days have settled in on my little corner of the world.

I sat outside soaking up the sun this morning and noticed a pitcher I had left outside all winter.  This was the wrong winter to leave it outside I thought.  The weather was rough.  As I looked at it more closely, I noticed the patterns of wear and the flakes of paint.  It was more interesting.

And in the pitcher, I saw me.

A friend had arrived on my birthday last year carrying it in filled with hydrangeas.  It was painted to look vintage, but now it truly was.   I loved it so much more.

Forty is feeling less and less intimidating every day.

I had an incredible weekend. So much so, I’m still letting it wash over me before I even begin to think about what it all means.

In the meantime, I hope this gives you some inspiration to look at the world through the lens of gratitude.

The procrastinator in me is taking a bit longer than 21 days to complete the Challenge, but I see it as an opportunity to consciously think about gratitude for even longer. I know I am seeing the world differently through this practice.

Want to try it out?

It wasn’t the first time I slept on the main floor at my aunt and uncle’s house.

The house has been the location of family gatherings for long before I was around. My aunt and uncle inherited it from my great-grandfather. We think he bought it from his father. We don’t really know how long it’s been there, that’s just as far back as anyone living knows the story.

It isn’t a big house, though it does have three bedrooms, so when the family gets together–usually at Easter–you sleep wherever you can find space. Since most of my life I have been part of the youngest generation that usually meant I camped on the floor.

Last week, I woke up on the couch after a restless night’s sleep. I needed to get up and start getting ready, but I just lay there taking in the sounds and smells that were both familiar and comforting.

The smell of coffee brewing. The sounds of voices catching up over breakfast. Silverware clinking on dishes. Footsteps padding on the wood floor. No sound is too harsh. Each is round and just a bit muted by the lifetime of possessions that fill the house.

I can taste the Rice Chex and creamy milk that I’m going to eat. There are always Rice Chex in my aunt’s cupboard.

I’ll be greeted by the “adults.” I’ll be called “sleepy head” and I’ll give them the same smile I have since I was teenager (the yep I love to sleep smile).

I know exactly what the next thirty minutes will entail and yet I lay still soaking it all in for just a few minutes more, because I know this is the last time I’ll enjoy the routine.

For after breakfast, we’ll be showering and dressing and getting in the car to head to my aunt’s funeral. This will be the last family gathering in the house. Everyone has moved away–moved on. The house will be sold.

It’s time to get up now, and it’s okay. I will have those sounds and smells in my head forever, and for that I am grateful.

So I was charged with the task of creating a video post talking about what I am grateful for in my life. Yesterday was crazy. I woke up late and rushed around the rest of the day trying to make up for it. I don’t have video skills. I knew there was no way I was going to edit up some fantastic piece in one day and properly give tribute to all of the things I’m grateful for.

But I had a video camera.

And of course I had my kids (they’re always hanging around).

What a brilliant idea! I’ll film my kids being sweet and loving and talk about how much they’ve changed my life…enriched it.

They were more interested in the cat.*

I’ve developed an enhanced sense of humor since having kids (I had to). I think that’s pretty cool.

And yes that was my underwear you saw flying behind my head. So much for the folded clothes–and my dignity.

*No children were seriously injured in the making of this video and the cat had already hidden herself far away from the crazies. Though head-butted by his younger brother, my middle son has his mother’s hard head and popped up unscathed just moments later.

Two years ago, a blond saw a face in the audience. She watched a head nod and eyes that made contact, and with each cue she found her speaking voice.

The brunette with the nodding head was so earnest, so unschooled, so wanted to fit in. The words she was hearing helped her believe in herself.

A friendship began when one person listened as the other one spoke. They had no idea how much the other needed what each was there to give.

Laughter. Honesty. Support. Space. All given and received without one expectation.

Tonight the brunette spoke, actually poured out her guts.

And the blond?

She listened and nodded.

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I am taking part in a Gratitude Challenge. For 21 days I am practicing gratitude for the little (and big) things all around me. Tonight’s post is a love letter to all of my incredible friends.

Conventional wisdom says that you need three weeks to form a good habit.

Coincidental that I’ve been challenged to spend the next 21 days practicing gratitude?

I think not.

Man those people are sneaky. I think I should thank them first for inspiring me to look at my life with a little more gratitude.

I really do have so much to be grateful for.

It’s funny how things come together at some points in your life as if all roads led to the same intersection.

Monday morning I sat down with my boss to catch up from the weekend and our discussion turned into a conversation about living in the present–and I hadn’t even gotten to the part where I was going to tell her about this Gratitude Challenge.

Practicing a little gratitude is an act that I’m sure can benefit each of us individually and translate into a world that is a little more pleasant to inhabit, but for people like me it’s not always easy.

I mean one of my nicknames growing up was Eeyore. “Nice day. So far.” (Thanks mom.)

She swears she called me that because I was a worrier and not because I was so negative as a kid, but I will admit that I’ve spent a good deal of my life looking at the contents of the glass as miserably half gone.

Now I look back at the birth of my children and see that it was probably the point where I began to consider that there might be more left in the glass than I had originally thought. There are still days when I’m not always sure, but just seeing the potential once is really all you need.

So today I proclaim publicly that I will try to form a new, good habit of regularly practicing a little gratitude.

I probably should have started this on Monday, (I’m not sure you’re supposed to begin a new habit on a Monday–or that’s what I’m standing by) but I needed few days to process this whole thing. And I’ve noticed something while I’ve been mulling this idea over.

There are a lot of things I never realized I was grateful for until I startedthinking about the word. Now? I see them everywhere–even in situations that don’t initially seem promising (I do have a teenager in my house).

So will I turn all gooey and gross and leave you with a cavity by the end of the first week?

Let’s be real. I live with a man and three boys. I’m just going to be grateful that I get to hear the sounds of all those farts.