The Day I Am Most Grateful For in the Year 2025

Hey, hey, hey, has a whole year already passed!?
I am surprised that a year has passed since my birthday last year.

My birthday this year is on a Sunday.
The day I was born was a Sunday.

I was able to meet my mentor in Western astrology for the first time in 15 years this year, and when they told me, "The day of the week you were born is also important and shows in your personality," I looked it up and found out,
I was born on a Sunday.
Since my father was apparently unemployed when I was born, it might have been more like a continuation of a day off rather than a Sunday. My mother must have had a hard time, too. It must have been hot and she must have been anxious. Thinking about things like that, I am truly grateful to my father and mother. And to my brother, too. We have been through a lot as a family, but I have nothing but feelings of gratitude.

Another beautiful number has been added this year,
and I am spending time laughing with my family, feeling a gentle sense of happiness.

As I have gotten older, I have realized that the saying "the soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred" is really true.
People who are reliable
have been reliable since they were small,
kind people are somehow always kind,
mean people are always mean,
and cute people stay cute forever.
I think my personality of being perpetually hot-headed and carefree hasn't changed since I was little.
The fact that there are people who tell me they love me just as I am
is something I am truly, truly grateful for!
Although there are things I struggle with every day due to my body, I acknowledge who I am now, and I praise myself, thinking, "You've worked hard! Good job!" and I actually quite like myself that way.
Perhaps because I have aged, I have come to think, "Whatever version of me it is, it's OK, ha ha ha!"

This year, too, I am remembering the faces of many people and feeling happy with gratitude.
I think every year that my birthday is like a reward, a time to slowly recall the smiles of many different people.

Since I was little, I wondered what the meaning of life was.
But thanks to the people I have met, the direction of my feelings has changed to thinking that living is interesting, and I have met many people, laughed, and cried.
I am especially grateful to my husband and daughter, enough to offer them my heart (that sounds scary, doesn't it).
Since I always receive letters from the two of them on my birthday, this year I wrote a letter to them. There is so much I want to write, but unfortunately, my hands hurt. (Because of my illness.)
But I wanted to convey my feelings today, so I wrote a letter to them with my shaky hands.
I cannot make many people happy, but I want to make these two smile a lot. That feeling will not change until this life ends.
I have also realized as I have aged that I am surprisingly single-minded and serious.

I am truly happy and grateful to those I have met on note and social media, and to those I have never met but who have spoken kind words to me, read my writing, or pressed the 'like' button, even though I cannot act actively.
There are many times when I am exhausted from physical pain, but it is thanks to the people I have met that I can feel grateful every day with a healthy heart.
Thank you.
I still want to do interesting things, so I will take on challenges where I can!
Since my body does not move as I would like, I can only proceed at a leisurely pace.
Even so, I am happy that I can learn things and be moved.
In this new year of my life, I want to do my best at what I can do while spending time comfortably with my loved ones, but also while taking it easy.

Maybe the reason I like summer
has something to do with being born in summer.
I want to become a person who
doesn't just keep the hot energy I received from summer
all to myself,
but can share it
with those who are feeling down,
and deliver a warm, cheerful smile.
I am truly grateful
to everyone I have met.
Thank you so, so much.

Happy birthday to me!
It's going to be a wonderful year!
Today, I'm going to be kinder to myself than usual!

***

Thank you
for reading until the end.
With heartfelt gratitude.

Kosuzu Yokoyama