Gratitude Friday 12 27 24 – The 2024 Highlight Reel

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” ― Søren Kierkegaard

Cape Spear October 2024

We are at the end of the calendar year and as such it is a time of reflection, this is my 52nd GF post for 2024, it is wrap up time for the year. It has been an interesting and challenging one. When I look back at my young self, many revolutions around the sun before this, I had decidedly low expectations. I did not anticipate or plan for a life that extended beyond 30 years, which at 18 seemed like an eon and now seems more like a fleeting handful of moments.

As I approach the point at which I will have exceeded that expectation of a short life by double that age, and know inevitably there is less road in front than behind, the experience is one in which roughly half of my life has been a bonus round. As such, I have not yet regretted the aging process but have relished the extra time and experiences.

For this last gratitude post in 2024, I decided to reflect on some of my favorite moments of the year.

·       In October Julie and I had our first “big vacation” in years, and we traveled up to Newfoundland. There were so many special moments, but I think for both of us the highlight experience was standing on Cape Spear on a day when massive waves, some 25 and 30 feet high were rolling in from the North Atlantic and crashing on the rocks in front of us. We could feel the ground shake. The immenseness and raw power of nature in that way was so special.

·       On my long-term bucket list was to experience a total solar eclipse. I knew that one was occurring in Western PA in April roughly a year before the event and I planned and plotted it out. I drove up into the zone of totality on the morning of the event, passing a vehicle decked out as a Ghostbusters Subaru with all the trimmings, watched the sun rise as for the first time that day as I drove 79 North towards Erie. I set up on the shores of Lake Pymatuning and waited. The weather cooperated and I experienced a total eclipse of the sun. It was incredible to experience a 360-degree sunrise effect and the hush of the world in totality. One I shall never forget.

·       Professionally, a mentor and person I respect immensely for his contributions to how the world views addiction and recovery, Mr. William White called me up and asked me to present his words, the Frontiers of Recovery Research. Keynote Address, to open the first Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science held by National Institute on Drug Abuse in mid-April. It was deeply meaningful to me and an honor greater than any I could even think of for him to ask of me. That one goes on the highlight reel of my life.

·       I managed to get my bike back and had some great rides out in the wilderness of the Delaware Water Gap. On one ride in August, I got caught in a morning cloudburst, sheltered the bike and experience the cool rain on a muggy morning. It was a moment I felt a part of nature in ways that I rarely get in our world and stood out as special.

·       I was invited to a retreat in the Spring and traveled to North Carolina to spend time a group of professionals I deeply respect, and we reflected on ourselves, our field and what we can offer efforts moving forward.

·       This was a year of some great dinners and conversations with good friends. When I reflect on things that have meaning to me, a theme that keeps coming up are these meals and hanging out with people we are close with talking about whatever issues come up.  

·       I had the opportunity to travel to Hazeldon Betty Ford Foundation in June to complete a fellowship and examine their amazing library and collection of historical artifacts from the American addiction and recovery history, from temperance and patent medicine and early addiction journals into our current era. I made new friends in the land of 10,000 lakes and learned a great deal about our past. I am thankful for this experience and those like it where I can learn and possibly even contribute.

·       In travels in August I stayed at a hotel that had flotation tanks, and I tried it out. I found a new tool for my mental health and creativity. It was not my last experience in an isolation tank. I am grateful I found a new wellness tool!

·       I passed the 45-gallon mark in blood donations in mid-2024 as I head towards my personal goal of 50 gallons, which I will accomplish if health and schedule permits sometime in mid-2025. I am at 47 right now. 3 to go for the goal!

·       It has been a year of profound challenges. People using their power to oppress recovery is prevalent. Greed, graft and scandal abound in my field. I have observed and been on the receiving end of a lot of some really negative stuff this year. Yet it fits here one must thank those who bring out our best even if the intent was coming from a place of malice. In these circumstances, I have been surrounded by people who understand one vital truth, if people act in unethical and hateful ways, if you respond in kind, you become the thing you are trying to overcome. On the highlight reel is that because of the integrity of the people around me, I have been reminded of this truth at key moments this year. May I continue to be grounded in that way in 2025, come what may.

·       Julie and I briefly caught an aurora this year, a first time for both of us. A reminder that life has plenty of new experiences, if one just looks up into the sky and does not get caught up in the mundane routines of life.

If you have read this far – what is on your highlight reel? I would love to hear yours as I suspect that your list may well remind me of things that could have made mine if I had thought more deeply about the process of reflection.

What are you grateful for today?