Monday, August 25, 2008

21 Ways to Celebrate Life

A woman named Nancy Rothstein lost her son Josh very suddenly. Once a year Nancy adds a new way to celebrate life to her growing list - one suggestion for every one of Josh's birthdays. I received the link to the list today - it's now at 21 items - and I spent my commute home thinking about how I celebrate life and ways in which I'd like to celebrate life. Here's my list for every birthday I've celebrated:

1.) Buy an ice cream cone on a sunny day and walk through my neighborhood 
2.) Listen to my favorite songs and repeat them as many times as I want
3.) Write
4.) Spend time with friends I adore
5.) Explore a NYC neighborhood I'm not familiar with
6.) On a rainy day, I hole up in my apartment with good food, a good movie, and never change out of my PJs
7.) I walk through my favorite area of Riverside Park and linger there as long as I want
8.) Watch re-runs of my favorite sitcoms
9.) Read the latest issues of my favorite magazines cover to cover
10.) Toil in the little shops in my neighborhood
11.) Play with a dog
12.) Practice yoga
13.) Travel abroad on my own
14.) Meditate and remind myself of all the reasons I am grateful for my life
15.) Savor a good meal slowly with good company
16.) Take care of a plant
17.) Call an old friend I haven't talked to in a while
18.) Dance around my apartment
19.) Paint a watercolor while sitting in a beautiful place
20.) Try something new that scares me
21.) Clean my apartment - I don't necessarily like the task but I love the result
22.) Spend the afternoon with a good book
23.) Visit one of the amazing museums in NYC
24.) Get a pedicure
25.) Volunteer my time with an organization I care about
26.) Recycle
27.) Don't money to a charity I believe in
28.) Light a candle, say a prayer
29.) Work on a home-improvement project
30.) Remain conscious of my breathe
31.) Watch live music
32.) Take photographs

Click here for image above. 

3 comments:

Ayelet Survivor said...

As you know, I'm a BIG fan of #24 ;)

Christa said...

Thanks so much for your message Abigail and for reading my blog! I am going to check out your blog right away as well :)

Lovebird said...

Great idea! We are the same age!!