What are you grateful for? Or have you even thought about it for a while? Be honest. How long has it been that you’ve listed the things you’re thankful for?

I have a friend in prison. Sometimes when I visit him I’ll mention (wish I would catch my self and stop) how I made a call or look something up on my cell phone. You should see the look on his face. He has to put in a form to get a phone call then stand in line to make it then stand up while he makes a 5-minute call. Hoping the person he wants to call will answer and accept the charges. And  I’m upset that I don’t have the latest phone.  It makes me feel bad that I put him through that but it makes me realize how well I have it. Give me strength that I don’t slip up and tell him about when I went out for some wings and beer.

Are Things Really That Bad

You’ve heard the old saying someone always has it worse than you. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Do we really have it that bad? Or just inconveniences? And really, what do we rate as bad?

There are people in the world that would give anything for that steak that you complained was too dry. Or that soft drink that was warm. Wish you had a better house? Tell that to someone that sleeps outside. And really heartbreaking, that phone that you complain about and wish you could replace because you want the latest and the greatest but you don’t have the money? There are some that wish they just had one person they could call that was a friend or someone that cared about them.

As you waste your last breath complaining about Life, someone out there is breathing their last.

It seems like most of the time we take for granted what we have. We never notice it. We forget about it. We don’t acknowledge it. How often do we go to dinner at a nice restaurant and complain about what happened at work that day? Instead of saying “Look at me!. I have a job. And look at this nice food I have in front of me”. Some people have a ritual of giving thanks at the dinner table but do we just go through the motions? Do we ever stop mid-sentence, our mouths suddenly hanging open because we were hit with the thought that it really is good to have the food we have to eat in the homes we have?

Sometimes I think we’re not grateful when things are going well. We’re more grateful when things have taken a turn for the worse. When things are going okay we take it for granted and complain that things aren’t even better. But when things are their darkest we look for hope and are grateful for even a small bit of light at the tunnel. Someone can be diagnosed with a disease and be very grateful for a tiny bit of hope for a recovery. They’ll be feeling a lot more gratitude than someone who is doing fine. They fully appreciate any sliver of good news.