43 Reasons to live and be grateful… & one statement to keep me “up & running”…
Confess it! You have done it as well… There is always certain moments, kind of milestone, where you end up planning special things to celebrate a special time: your key Birthdays.
It use to happen when you feel ownership and mental freedom in your life at the beginning of your 30's, then 40's, 50's… As if we should remind that we are still alive at least, one day every now and then.
Today (9th of June) and as a contrast with some news I’ve read about Albert Woodfox, i am turning 43 or discounting x-43 depends on perspectives or perceptions as everything in this World. 43 years, same unfair time Albert Woodfox has survived in jail in solitary (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33059012). The fact is that i’ve felt it is the right moment to write loud and share with whom may concern some reasons to celebrate Life. As if Life itself wouldn’t be enough reason already, despite cases like Albert’s.
Anyway, today i want to remind about 43 reasons to be grateful since 1972 starting where everything began…
+1 my Parents both Mum & Dad, +2 Sharing time with my Brother, anytime, anywhere, +3 All the Woman of my life, all of them in general and the ones i’ve loved in particular, +4 Alonso Ancor, my first kid (3 weeks old passed the way 10 years ago) as the reason who grounded me, +5 Teresa, my first Daughter who has guided my puzzled life and keeps me daily focused, +6 Sia Ana, my second Daughter who inspires my future every fifteen days, +7 my Roots & my family, the extended-one which is a Big one, +8 Friends who know why you are friends, +9 My spiritual Masters: Jesus, Swami Rama, Jocelyne… Myself?, +10 My Yoga school and my beloved brotherhood, +11 Portugal the oldest European Nation (1143 a.c.), +12 Lisbon the Princess of the cities, +13 Sex, good SEX indeed, +14 MUSIC, music, music everywhere…, +15 Spotify to full my life with non-stop Music, +16 Flamenco music before and after Camarón de la Isla and Lole y Manuel… up to José Mercé & Enrique Morente, +17 Wolfang… Amadeus Mozart of course, +18 Johann Sebastian Bach in general and his most genuine piano Goldberg variations performance ever by Glenn Gould, +19 Richard Wagner and its Der Ring des Nibelungen, +20 Blue Note, Verve, Impulse! jazz labels in general, +21 My favorite jazz musicians in particular: Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Jaco Pastorius, Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Chet Baker, all The Bossa Nova heros particularly Antonio Carlos Jobim, Michael Franks & so many… +22 and the coherence of Incognito and the good vibes of Jamiroquai and… +23 and yes! this strange couple Quincy Jones/Michael Jackson, +24 My favorite Artists & genial Creators: Leonardo!, Diego Velázquez, Henri Matisse, Amadeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí Dalí Dalí… M. Chagal, Alberto Giacometti, Jean-Michel Basquiat… +25 Bullfighting as a sign of Culture identity, a life style and the “toreros & toros” as the performance. From the classics to the contemporary: Manolete, Belmonte, Rafael de Paula, Ordóñez, José Tomás… +26 My literary & cinema Heros: Fernando Pessoa, Tintin, Conan, Batman, James Bond 007, Darth Vader, the Bullit Man: Steve McQueen… +27 Eating & Drinking as we do it only in Spain sorry, +28 the “aperitivo” in any tavern or bar in Madrid that serve Vermú with some tapa, +29 Negroni to start & Pisco Sour to finish, +30 to test Wine, references another day, +31 running with a Goal and particularly running the Classical Behovia-San Sebastian with my friends Gabi & Eneko and then celebrate life on the table +32 walking until become lost in cities where always seem to be the first time like New York, Berlin, London, México D.F., Hong-Kong… +33 traveling alone and never feel lonely, +34 Martha’s Vineyard, +35 The Silence in the desert, +36 The SEA to sail, +37 the SKY to fly, +38 The Snowy mountains to ski, well to snowboard +39 Porsche 911 and if possible 1st generation (901) or 3rd generation (964), +40 To Surf the Internet, +41 the bosses that fired me to discover my own way, +42 to recognize my entrepreneurial skills and believe i can start-up, +43 to Communicate, participate and inspire that a World based in “Abundance” is possible…
& if all that it is not enough… then i just need to remind the statement from that 9 years old girl who lives with me every fifteen days: Teresa my oldest daughter. An Angel who told me when she was only 6: “Papá. Yo no estoy contigo pero siempre estaré junto a tí”.
