Monday, August 26, 2013

Gratitude



While having lunch with an old friend today, she touched on a subject that I believe could use more press.

GRATITUDE!

She was telling me about her sister and the falling out they had.  Her sister has had many challenges both physically and emotionally.  Although my friend is not in the best financial situation, she has always been generous in every way she possibly can.  She even had her sister move in with her, though her small apartment was cramped.

It wasn’t the health issues her sister had.  It wasn’t the constant attention she required that caused my friend to get angry.  It was simply the lack of gratitude.  She wasn’t looking for grand gestures, or even constantly being thanked.  She just wanted to feel appreciated.  AND, the more she gave, the more her sister took.

Shortly after our lunch I met a co-worker for coffee.  We talked about many things including work, family, and our various interests.  During our conversation on raising kids to be productive, caring adults she said, “I think you should write a blog on gratitude.  There is such a lack of appreciation for what we have.  Too many people only look at what they don’t have.”

I believe this is something to think about.  There is always someone with more.  There are always things we want that we don’t have.  And, it is certainly true that life isn’t always fair or just.

Having said all this, I do feel it is important to take time each day to be thankful for what we do have.  Taking a few minutes to appreciate the small things will give us more balance.  There are so many people in this world that go to bed hungry.  There are so many people in this world that go to bed cold.


Things can always be better and easier.  However, things can always be harder and worse.

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