During my morning routine today, I found an excellent meditation on gratitude.
I hear all the time in different positive messages I’ve listened to first thing in the morning for the past 68 days about the importance of gratitude. How an attitude of gratitude = happiness. I believe it’s true and when I write in my journal every morning, I always start off with three things I AM grateful for.
A lot of times, I repeat myself: my family, my friends, my more positive mindset; my growing faith; my health; my home; stuff like that.
Sometimes, it seems hard to think of something new to be grateful for.
Good grief, man, really?
Think about it.
Really dig down and think hard about your life and all the good things, all the blessings, you have.
I write a weekly series of profiles on area military veterans — a different vet each week — for a local newspaper, and I’ve interviewed a lot of guys who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. One thing many of them say their experiences in the Middle East taught them was a profound sense of gratitude for what they have back home. It’s amazing, they say, how so many people live over there. In tents; out in the desert; just trying to survive day by day. That’s just one example.
Look at what’s going on over in Europe right now.
Me? I got it made, man …
I woke up this morning … in a nice, comfortable bed.
I could breathe freely.
I can see clearly.
I can hear.
I can speak.
I can walk.
I can take a warm shower.
I can go in the kitchen and make a nice cup of coffee.
I can sit in the living room, look out the window, and watch the birds in my beautiful backyard full of oak trees.
I have a nice pickup to drive and go pretty much wherever I want to go, whenever I want to go there.
I can go two minutes down the road and put gasoline in my pickup.
I have money to pay for that gasoline.
I can drive a few miles to the grocery store and buy whatever food I want to eat.
I can drive to a restaurant and get dinner handed to me without even getting out of my pickup.
I can sit on my ass and do nothing all day today (I’d be bored as hell and go stir-crazy, but I could do it).
I can drive a couple miles to the gym and work out.
I can go to the lake and swim, or just sit and take in the beautiful view.
I can take a nice, long walk.
The list goes on and on and on and on …
Gratitude, man, gratitude.
Big things and small things.
There are hundreds of ’em.
What are you grateful for today?
