Today’s Celebration

There is no par­tic­u­lar rea­son to cel­e­brate today, which is why I am cel­e­brat­ing it. I have never cared very much about what sort of “spe­cial day tag” is attached to any given day. How I feel about a day is not deter­mined by tra­di­tions attached to any twenty-four hour period. All that mat­ters is that, “This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it.” Once again, today I will cel­e­brate for my favorite rea­son: ninety-eight point six and breathing.

If you are alive enough to read this, you have every rea­son in the world to cel­e­brate this day like it was every hol­i­day all rolled into one. There are no lesser days in the cre­ation. We live only to the level that we grasp the sig­nif­i­cance of just being alive. Noth­ing spe­cial has to hap­pen today. This day does not have to be a reminder of some past event or of some “great” person’s life (how­ever we might imag­ine greatness).

Play your favorite music; dine on your best dishes; wear your favorite out­fit. You are expe­ri­enc­ing some­thing very rare and worth more than all of the money in the world. You are con­scious. You are aware of every­thing that your senses can sense.

So, cel­e­brate being at work or being at home. Paint funny pic­tures on what­ever cast you may be wear­ing. Put stream­ers on your wheel­chair. Watch the sun­rise or the sun­set like it is a first time expe­ri­ence. This day is as much a gift as any you will ever know. It is a cel­e­bra­tion because YOU are cel­e­brat­ing it.