37 Things I am Grateful For…

As I turn 37 today, I feel truly blessed.

Here are 37 things specifically:

1. I am grateful to be alive, healthy and happy.
2. I love being me.
3. I am thankful for a loving wife who I get to share my life and my birthday with, who inspires me to be the best version of myself.
4. I am grateful for my parents who each brought love, knowledge, and respect into my life.
5. I am grateful for my siblings who amazing in their own special ways and who are also both amazing parents.
6. I am grateful for my nieces and nephew for allowing me to rediscover the awesomeness of life through their eyes.
7. I am especially grateful for my grandparents who went through wars and unspeakable hardships but still managed to create a loving environment for my parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and my family.
8. I am lucky to have a fun and loving extended family who love, laugh and learn together.
9. I am thankful for my friends who bring out the best in me and appreciate a goofy sense of humor and good food.
10. I am blessed to be able to do what I love, what I am good at, and get paid well for as my career.
11. I am grateful for our cats Tex and Diego who remind me what unconditional love is and don’t care what kind of mood I am in when they want to play or snuggle.
12. I am thankful for a beautiful home in a safe neighborhood with parks and walking trails.
13. I am grateful that Kim and I get to take so many wonderful vacations, especial San Diego’s weather and food.
14. I love long walks and long talks, especially with Kim.
15. I am so happy I finally passed that kidney stone this year, and that it reminded me how important my health is.
16. I am grateful for my co-workers, clients, and business partners for helping me do my best, learn, grow, and consistently pursue success.
17. I am grateful for pizza, anything with cinnamon, butter, and sugar, Italian food, and Bang Bang Shrimp.
18. I am thankful for getting to see the new Star Wars movie with family this year, build a lego Millennium Falcon and Tie Fighter, and otherwise rekindle my youth.
19. I am thankful to make it another year without a car payment and to cross 230,000 miles.
20. I am grateful for good music and discovering Nathanial Rateliff and the Night Sweats this year.
21. I am grateful for singing, dancing, laughing, and other “creative nerdy” that my friends and family get into.
22. I am grateful to feel safe.
23. I am thankful for warms days, mild winters, and mowing the lawn.
24. I am grateful for new clothes and new shoes, and not having to wear a suit most days.
25. I am thankful that I get to work from home with my wife, and grateful when I do get to dress up, wear a suit, and leave the house.
26. I am grateful for entertainment like comedians, concerts, games, and sports to help me get lost in the present while feeling good about myself.
27. I am thankful for YouTube and Netflix for allowing me to reclaim hours I used to spend watching commercials, and then take those hours back by binge watching awesomeness.
28. I am grateful for David Sandler, David Mattson, and my father for creating a company around being a better communicator and person and giving me the chance to live my passion and purpose.
29. I am thankful for technology and the internet which allow me to learn, reach more people, and stay in touch with my family and friends around the country.
30. I am grateful for science, society, and the human race for developing the earth into a pretty cool time and place to live.
31. I am grateful for theme parks, zoos, and other places designed for recreation and happiness.
32. I am grateful for hats in the summer and winter, and silly hats that always make me laugh.
33. I am grateful for freedom, money, security and the other things that allow me to worry about silly stuff most days.
34. I am grateful that I got to speak in front of so many cool audiences, start a podcast, and write about stuff I am passionate about this year.
35. I am grateful for all day breakfasts, pancakes, eggs, and how could I ever forget you, bacon.
36. I am grateful to be so blessed that I didn’t have to separate out some of these things just to make it to 37.
37. I am grateful to God, life, the universe, and everything for blessing me with another year.