- I can see, I can hear and I can walk. One of my older sisters has been deaf since birth, so I have had a lifelong ring-side seat to the challenges of physical disability. On the whole, it's better to have all of your body parts functioning properly.
- I'm of significantly above-average intelligence. This makes a great many things easier, far more than the things it makes harder.
- I have a home and I'm not hungry. Many people have neither food nor shelter on a reliable basis.
- I'm a guy. I like being a man, but I recognize that this gives me some inherent advantages in life (beyond being able to get stuff off the top shelf without a stepladder). If you ever question whether or not women get the short end of the stick, attend a childbirth. Or four.
- My wife and kids love me, and I love them. Some people with a spouse and a family view them as a burden or even a prison. I view them as a winning lottery ticket that, amazingly, I get to cash in again every day.
- I have friends, acquaintances and colleagues who like and respect me. To be alone and shunned is to live a life of torment. There have been times when I felt alone and shunned, but sooner or later, there was always someone to be with me. Online and in person, my people are pretty fantastic.
- I am a child of God, blessed after having been cursed, forgiven after having been found guilty, reassembled after having been broken, and sent again into the world to do good. It doesn't get much better than that, actually.
- My writing sucks less and less each month. It's still not good enough, never good enough. But I'm making progress.
- The Zero candy bar. This is, without question, the most delicious candy bar every created by the hand of man. Hard to find around where I live, and way too many calories for my 42-year-old body, but sweet jumping junipers, are they fantastic!
- Finally, coffee. I love the smell of it, the taste of it, the way it makes me feel. I love the social aspect of it, the cozy privacy of it, the rituals surrounding its preparation and consumption. I love the ultra-expensive concoctions at Starbucks and the plain cup of strong black at that corner cafe by the train station. It is one of the rare consumable pleasures in life that is almost entirely without a downside.
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
Excellent post Tony! You reminded me of how much more I neglected to be thankful for. I think, when you take the time to look at it, there's always more than you expect ;) We take so much for granted!
ReplyDeleteFor my faculties, that I have a home, a great job and what I need (not want, mind you, but need) to live. As I noted on FB recently, I may have to struggle sometimes, but by the standards of a big portion of the population of this planet, I'm rich.
ReplyDeleteFor my coworkers, family and friends, RL and online. I feel alone sometimes, but I never really am.
For His love, and for grace undeserved, and forgiveness. Wouldn't be any reason to get up in the morning without it.
For hockey (if you have to ask you obviously don't follow me on Twitter). :)
Thanks, Tony. Great article.
Well, I already said "family" on Teresa's blog, so I'll say I'm grateful for my health. I've never broken a bone. Never had stitches. Other than a childbirth and a kidney stone (the kidney stone was worse), I have never been in the hospital. Caring for someone who is ill, or watching someone deteriorate, has a way of kicking you in the ass and letting you know how blessed you really are just to have health.
ReplyDelete