Gratitude 2024: There Is No Spoon

This Thanksgiving, I've been reflecting on gratitude—but not in the way those cheesy "live, laugh, love" cat posters would have you believe.

Sure, December marks my 29th cancerversary 🎉.

Yes, my parents are alive, thriving, and nearing 80 with enviable grace.

Yes, I'm still happily married to my soul mate, and my miracle twins are crushing it as top students in their freshman year of high school.

Objectively, I am the luckiest bastard alive, and I know it.

But this year has taught me something I wasn't ready for until now: the radical, awkwardly uncomfortable practice of being grateful for myself.

A much overdue spiritual awakening—although some would say I wasn't ready until now— has manifested my understanding that loving myself means recognizing my worth, embracing my flaws, and trying—keyword: trying—to show myself the same compassion I offer others.

It's about letting go of guilt for all those "teachable moments" (read: epic blunders) in my past, stopping beating myself up about it, perseverating on the past, and learning to appreciate the messy growth they've inspired.

And let's talk about gratitude for a minute.

It's not just for the people who've lifted me up—it's also for those of you who've screwed me over and done me irreparable harm. (Oh, you know who you are.) Without your creative meddling, I wouldn't have learned resilience and reduced the f#cks I give to zero.

Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down.

Thanksgiving, as a tradition, may have roots in a messy, historically inaccurate narrative, but for me, it's evolved into something more meaningful.

It's about finding peace in the flow of life—faith in my path forward, appreciation for the love I've given and received (and yes, even the incalculable BS I've endured), and, most importantly, putting on my own oxygen mask first so I can be present and strong for others.

So, here's to gratitude—for what we have, for who we are, for the ones we love, and, yes, even for the ones who've caused our lives to become temporary living nightmares.

I'm thankful for all of you—and, finally, for all of me.

#HappyThanksgiving 🦃