Gratitude

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a big fan of Oprah Winfrey. She doesn’t talk about it as much anymore, but a few years ago she was pretty vocal about keeping a gratitude journal. You know, every day you write down five things that you are grateful for. So that you can keep your perspective aligned right. I try to do that, too. I have trouble keeping a regular journal in real life. But, now that I am firmly entrenched in the internet with my social networking and blogging addictions, I do my posting online.

Sometimes I think it helps to remember how very lucky we are to have the necessities  that we consider very basic; like running water and shelter. This winter we had a very cold spell where I live. The temperatures were below freezing for months. Well, it felt like months. It was actually 2 or 3 weeks. Everything was harder to do. We have animals. Horses and dogs who need food and water outside everyday. It was ridiculously hard to provide them with water especially. And then the water for the entire neighborhood went. A mainline broke and they couldn’t get it fixed for several days. It sucked. And it made me SO grateful that in the normal way of things, I don’t have to worry where my water comes from. Really, I was just happy the power didn’t go, too.

Other things, like technology, we forget are not standard issue for a lot of the world. Washing machines and microwaves, oh my! My husband’s mom is one of 12 kids. When her mom was asked which invention had the most impact in her life, she replied, ” The washing machine.” Because not having to hand wash the clothes of 14 people would have a considerable impact on your life.

So, try to keep some of these things in mind in your day to day travels. When you start to feel like you wish you could have a bigger house or car. When you need to have the latest shoes or newest phone. Sometimes we can get to feeling like we don’t have enough. Like we need more.

STOP

Take a Breath

and try to shift your focus away from what you don’t have. And remember what  riches we enjoy -without even noticing.

Today I am grateful for:

the internet

plenty of food and clean water

electricity

my car

and don’t forget

my washing machine and microwave

 

But, don’t think that everyday has to be full of grand sweeping gratitude for our standard of living. Some days I’m grateful for my morning coffee. OK, everyday I’m grateful for my morning coffee. Or I’m grateful to get the really good parking spot at school. Whatever. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is. It only matters that you notice and acknowledge it.

So, today I am also grateful for:

my leftover potato soup

chinese food for dinner last night

creamer for my coffee

peanut butter M&M’s

and

fortune cookies.

(I’m very grateful for foodstuffs today. Must be time for breakfast!)

So what is it you are grateful for today?