What a beautiful birthday gift – To be able to say I just completed the best year of my life; that life gets better every year, that I find more beauty in the world every year, that goodness is unending. Yes, life is a beautiful gift.

As I enter my 67^th year I find myself thinking about a fine piece of loosely woven cloth. In my earlier years, it was as if the threads were woven tightly. I needed to control – or try to control – what was happening around me. I needed to harness the feelings inside. I needed answers. I needed perfection. I needed to make life what I wanted. Every act, every thought, reduced the gap between the threads that form life . . . and reduced the space that allows one to rest, reflect and to live.

How wonderful to now embrace a cloth loosely woven. Instead of control, acceptance and appreciation for what is. Instead of demanding answers, loving the ambiguity of not knowing, and realizing my life is not diminished because I don’t have answers. Rather it is increased with sight and insight, as well as trust that everything in its time will unfold. Perfection has lost its glamor. Instead, adventure has moved in with the unexpected, with the occasional mishap, and with frequent brushes of grace.

This loosely woven tapestry is not changing. It is evolving. It is evolving for this day and this time. This year my life will unfold in ways I do not yet know, but in ways I do welcome. I know all things are created for me to prosper – to learn and to grow. I know there is more goodness coming than I can possibly imagine. I know dreams will continue to show up in my reality. On my birthday next year, I look forward to waking up and saying once again, “This was the best year of my life.”