tell me about the good things.

Here's a task for you: lean back, wherever you are, and tell me about the good things. You have them and so do I. We should talk about it for awhile because there is quite a lot to be grateful for, here and now, and I don't know what else to make of life but to sit back and be grateful for it. My life is very good right now, but it always has been so.

I have been young and lonely and without purpose. In their own ways, love and passion and purpose have found me. That's what I'm talking about. Tell me about the good things.

A lot of people suffer in this world in ways that I cannot measure or understand. My very keen sense of justice makes me feel guilty at the great love and friendship and passion that have filled up my life. I feel guilty at my paycheck and comfortable bed and good food. This is a struggle for life, I believe. I will find my own ways to make peace with the evil in the world and the human suffering. In the meantime, the best thing I know to do is to be grateful.

My family has taught me to be curious and generous and to work hard. Good friends have stood in a kitchen with me over wine and food and talked about hurt and love and struggle and life. A good man has believed in me, sometimes more than I have believed in myself.

I wish I could conjure up something more eloquent or artful to say to you tonight, but I can only muster this: my life is good. And I am grateful.