HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATHIAS!
It’s my birthday!
And I don’t care.
This is a relatively new thing for me. I used to celebrate my birthday for at least a week, and sometimes, it’d be a birthday month. That is no longer my practice.
Call it maturity, call it growing up…I’ll call it sobriety.
April 9th is the most important day of my year, as it’s the anniversary of the most important day of my life. The day I surrendered, gave up alcohol for good, and fundamentally changed who I am as a person.
One could argue that 4-9-2021 is the day I started becoming who I truly am. Maybe I didn’t change, maybe it was finally uncovered. Or maybe I did change. Either way, without that decision and hitting my bottom, I wouldn’t be writing to you.
I believe that with all my being. If I didn’t get sober, I wouldn’t be here.
Heavy, eh? Tired of hearing that from good ol Mathias? Yes and yes. But it’s the truth, and it’s why my birthday means little to me.
Don’t get me wrong, feel free to text me and post about how amazing you think I am, we all love a good ego boost…granted I won’t necessarily believe your words, however I am working on receiving compliments so let's call the well wishes an exercise in self-discovery. In the end, I think the world would be a better place if we all discovered the good others see in us.
I’m only on year 3 of not caring about my birthday. I’m a toddler in my sober life. Wait, does that mean NYTFG is a children’s book? Maybe I am marketing to the wrong crowd…
A few thoughts on this author’s birthday:
This toddler has been here for 39 years.
He’s seen some things. He’s lived a couple lives.
He’s done a lot of things wrong, and a few things right.
He’s started over multiple times, and managed to find solid ground.
He’s realizing how small most of his problems are, and how helpful time is to reveal that.
He’s found comfort in philosophy and spirituality, and finds peace in them daily.
He’s constantly humbled by traveling, seeing other cities remind him of how big the world is and to practice zooming out.
He’s married to an exceptional woman, and still can’t figure out what he did in a previous life to wake up next to her in this one.
He’s finally realized it’s pretty special to publish a book, and is thankful you are reading this.
He’s learned enough about people’s attention span that I’ve lost most of you by know. Ha!
So here’s to surviving another year of my own thoughts :) These little blogs will be shifting a bit as the next book starts to take shape. Attainably Handsome (great title right?) will be written with your input!
Thank you for being here.
Talk to you soon.
- Mathias John
