gratitude in your 50s

1 in 400 Trillion: A Spring Perspective

I have this tree right outside my window where small birds love to congregate. The tree had been “silent” for several months until very recently, of course, as Spring has sprung!

I love the Spring season. In Pasadena where I live, there are beautiful blossoms blooming and the birds are chatterboxes. It just feels like everyone and everything is excited. And they should be!

Nothing makes me feel more alive than the beginning of Spring. For me, during this time, it’s hard not to feel the gratitude of just being in existence.

Did you know the chances of you being born is something around 1 in 400 trillion?!

To put this into perspective, one trillion is equal to one thousand billion, which is equal to one thousand thousand (no typo there) million.

I can’t even comprehend 400 trillion. Here’s what it looks like: 400,000,000,000,000

Wow. How does this make you feel about your existence?

While I can’t speak for you, for myself, when I really think about it, the gratitude is overwhelming and humbling. In fact, this understanding gives me a boost of energy to make my life meaningful for others, but also for myself.

What better way to express gratitude than to make the world a better place, take care of the one body you’re given, and to simply enjoy your life?

Again, this is my perspective. Maybe you feel something completely different and that’s okay, of course.

Here’s how I see it as we enter the Spring season.

It’s hard to complain when I have food, water, love, purpose, and health.

It also makes me want to be my best in every way…

To live and love to the fullest.

To feed my one body with the highest quality, most nutritious foods.

To look in the mirror and see a body that works for me and with me and allows me to experience joy, adventure, and pleasure through movement and function.

And the list goes on…

As we embark on the Spring season, I hope that you too remember the odds of you being born right now in this time, where you don’t have to hunt and gather; rather we have the opposite problem of abundance plus convenience (but that’s for another blog post!).

You have won the lottery, my friend. You are alive. The birds are chirping. The flowers are blooming and you are breathing and existing in this very moment.

And perhaps your body doesn’t look or feel the way you wish it did, but may the beginning of this new season bring about a fresh perspective – that you are nothing less than a miracle – 1 in 400 trillion, in fact.

Treat your body this way by your words and actions this season.

What better time than the start of Spring to celebrate our life and begin new healthy habits with a heightened sense of hope and optimism!

That is my wish for you. Thank you for being a part of my journey and thank you for spending a little of your precious time with me here each week.

Kim