Granddad Gratitude

My Grandpa still forwards me emails....

It's his way of keeping me in his loop. There are many I kind of scan and move on, but this one hit different today.

You may have heard/read my frustration for the way older generations judge and bash Millennials.

I dislike it so much because I don't feel like we are all entitled brats who are selfishly only thinking of themselves.

I believe we are a resourceful, innovative, and informed generation interested in re-calibrating outdated systems that no longer serve the collective.

I am a proud Millennial and nothing will change that.

In fact, I hope to change many people's view of us.

Anyway, Grandpa's email definitely spoke to me for every post I have read in the last week about people being BORED.

This hasn't been an ageism thing either.

I have seen folks complaining about their boredom between the ages of 10-60 at least.

It has frustrated me.

While at my 10 day silent Vipassana Retreat back in February, I watched mice play in a field on my break.

I realized that I had never seen a mouse that had not either sprinted or was scared away.

I watched this little cutie find some grass and even burrow in the snow.
It was adorable and entertaining...and peaceful, honestly.

During a meal at this retreat, I peeled an entire orange apart down to the single strands of pulp and tasted them one at a time. It was delicious.

When I would walk out of our 4 hour silent meditations, I would turn my face towards the sun and just fill up on its warm, loving energy.
Without an award ceremony, it felt like a pat on the back for my committed efforts to expanding my consciousness.

At night after our last meditation, I would walk all the way back to the residence hall with my eyes up just adoring the sky, stars, and galaxies. I would stand as still as I could, look straight up and notice the illusion of the stars 'falling' like rain drops. My very own private light show from the Universe.

Life in slow motion is absolutely fascinating.

Hearing people WITH other people in their home (I'm single af right now), with their devices, enough food and toilet paper for months, and endless forms of entertainment complain about their boredom makes me upset to say the least.

I have been talking about the pure miracle of life in this Growing Gratitude community for years.

You have seen my posts where I remind you to literally just think about the mind blowing beauty of your body. Thanking the different parts that have been with you your WHOLE life that work without your thought or effort.

I have talked about the complete blessing of your relationships with your loved ones and friends.

I have reminded you to think about the complexities of your brains and hearts and breathe in how simple it all is.

Life is simple.
It is not boring.

So as we proceed through this quarantine, I implore you to check yourself.

Check your 'boredom' as your refusal to count your blessings.

Check your privilege as your lack of gratitude for the fact that you are not being taken from your boring home to go fight something bigger than a virus.

With that, I will share my Grandpa's heart-opening email and invite you to flex your gratitude today and every. single. day. that you wake up with another beautiful chance to enjoy this planet.

I love you. Please stay home.

And MOST DEFINITELY, a big big thank you to the service men, women, and families then and now.
<3


"I talked with a man today, an 80+-year-old man. I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this Coronavirus scare was gripping America.

He simply smiled, looked away and said:

"Let me tell you what I need! I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for... I need to believe this nation we passed safely to our children and their children...

I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies...that they respect what they've been given...that they've earned what others sacrificed for."

I wasn't sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all. So, I sat there, quietly observing.

"You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary days. We didn't know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today.

And no home went without sacrifice or loss. Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm's way. Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle. Sometimes it was the whole damn family...fathers, sons, uncles...

Having someone, you love, sent off to war...it wasn't less frightening than it is today. It was scary as Hell. If anything, it was more frightening. We didn't have battlefront news. We didn't have email or cellphones. You sent them away and you hoped...you prayed. You may not hear from them for months, if ever. Sometimes a mother was getting her son's letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child's death.

And we sacrificed. You couldn't buy things. Everything was rationed. You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper. EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort. And what you weren't using, what you didn't need, things you threw away, they were saved and sorted for the war effort. My generation was the original recycling movement in America.

And we had viruses back then...serious viruses. Things like polio, measles, and such. It was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined. We didn't shut down our schools. We didn't shut down our cities. We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer. And do you know what? We persevered. We overcame. We didn't attack our President, we came together. We rallied around the flag for the war. Thick or thin, we were in it to win. And we would lose more boys in an hour of combat than we lose in entire wars today."

He slowly looked away again. Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye. Then he continued:

"Today's kids don't know sacrifice. They think sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country. Today's kids are selfish and spoiled. In my generation, we looked out for our elders. We helped out with single moms whose husbands were either at war or dead from war. Today's kids rush the store, buying everything they can...no concern for anyone but themselves. It's shameful the way Americans behave these days. None of them deserve the sacrifices their granddads made.

So, no I don't need anything. I appreciate your offer but, I know I've been through worse things than this virus. But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you? Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak? Will you be able to survive with 113 channels on your tv?"

I smiled, fighting back a tear of my own...now humbled by a man in his 80's. All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and leave with my ego firmly tucked in my rear.

I talked to a man today. A real man. An American man from an era long gone and forgotten. We will never understand the sacrifices. We will never fully earn their sacrifices. But we should work harder to learn about them, learn from them...to respect them."