37 Steps Toward My Thirty-Seventh Year

I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t it The 39 Steps, Trig?

Yes, The 39 Steps is the title of the Alfred Hitchcock film, but this month, I’m turning thirty-seven years old, and I wanted to write something with a meaningful title. Why am I not waiting for two more years so I can more appropriately title this blog post?

Because this blog post has nothing to do with The 39 Steps, as evidenced by the title.

But what it does have to do with are thirty-seven “steps” that have helped lead me to this thirty-seventh year of my life. (Or thirty-eighth –– the math makes me thirty-seven this year, but I honestly feel as though I’ve lived two years for the price of one, which would make me thirty-eight.) Things that have benefited me in the short and long run, and things which I believe might benefit others. I’ve met a lot of great folks over the years, and I continue to meet a great deal of new people everyday, and once we start hanging out and they start to see my Zen approach to everything in life as evidenced by a Facebook status here or an Instagram photo there, they each ask me the same question. It goes something like:

“So what go you like… this?”

“Like what?” I ask right back.

“Like how you are –– always positive, energetic, excited about the simplest things in life.”

There’s so much that went into getting me this way, and instead of diving into an extensive blog post about that time I took a Comparative Religions course or how I wrote my master’s thesis on the train to and from Brooklyn College (apparently I’ve gotten a ton of writing done on trains in my short life), I figured I’d save time and just list out some of the things I believe have had an impact in teaching me how to enjoy everything this life has to offer.

So here they are: The 37 steps that each got me ones step closer to me (in absolutely no particular order, ‘cause that would be way too hard):

• I haven’t eaten fast food in over ten years.
• I enjoy my meals, whether I’m dining by myself, with my fiancée, or with a group of friends.
• I always enjoy the company of others.
• I’m honest with everyone, but especially myself.
• I always do work that I enjoy.
• I’ve created routines, and I’ve stuck to those routines up until this day.
• I take vitamins and supplements; I haven’t been sick since the Blizzard of ’06.
• If I can’t find the time in my day to do the things I really want to do, I make the time, even ten minutes at a time.
• I start my day with some stretches, a little yoga, and some pushups and a sit-up routine like this one. (Actually, it is this one.)
• I read a verse from the Tao everyday to remind myself to not take life too seriously.

• I’ve read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
• I practice those four agreements every day.
• When I fail at something, I still a triumph, so long as I learn something from that “failure,” which I prefer to think of as a near-success before the real success.
• I’ve read (and re-read) Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces so that I could understand that (1) all fiction is written the exact same way, even yours and mine, and (2) our stories are just as scripted as the best and worst stories ever told.
• I’ve watched every film by Stanley Kubrick. Every film. Even Fear and Desire, his very first feature-length film.
• I drink a lot of water throughout my day. A lot!
• I know what I have to offer others is valuable, so I make sure to offer it to everyone.
• I erased the word “can’t” from my vocabulary a long, long time ago.
• I focus on the task at hand. Or at least I try my hardest to.
• I’ve found someone who compliments me in every way, and who “gets” me and all my qualities and quirks.

• I cut off any negative people from my life immediately with no second thoughts about it.
•  I never (okay, I seldom) spread myself too thin, and therefore I have learned the value of saying “no” when spreading myself too thin seems imminent.
•  I never stopped being a kid, although I tried it once for about two years when I was seventeen, and it totally sucked.
• I constantly listen to my “boys in the basement” and they’ve never steered me wrong yet. Thanks, Stephen King!
• Like Dirk Gently, I trust in the interconnectedness of all things.
• I treat myself to an affogato every now and again. And again after that.
• I’m not afraid to ask others for help when I really need it.
• I show support to the things that matter most to me, and which have had a part in making me who I am today.
• If I don’t have anything nice to say to someone else, I’ll find something nice to say, ‘cause there is always something nice to say.
• I still call people on their birthdays.
• I eat breakfast every morning ––granola with blueberries, or sometimes a banana, with almond milk. (No more cow’s milk for me.)
• Everyday, I strive to add a little bit of goodness into the world through social media and #IRL, too.
• I keep my memories close, but Winnie-the-Pooh closer. (As well as The House at Pooh Corner, The Tao of Pooh, and Te of Piglet, too.)

• I don’t drink soda, and I don’t add anything artificial to anything that goes into my body.
• Whatever happens to me, positive or not-so-positive, I truly believe it’s always for the best.
• I’m not (too) afraid to try new things –– the older I get, anyway.
• I end every night with a poem.

And just in case I’m actually thirty-eight years old instead of thirty-seven, here’s the most important thing I do, which we should all remember to do every single day of our lives:

• Just breathe.