Gratitude

For what are you grateful today?

Today I am grateful for the ability to write what is on my mind and to share it with others whom I have never met. Today I am grateful for my health, while it isn’t at the level it was even five years ago, I am able to get up each morning and go about my daily habits. Today I am grateful that I have clean water to drink, a comfortable home in which to live, and healthy food on my table.  I could go on and on. My heart is full of gratitude today.

Pondering the concept of gratitude I realize how often we compare ourselves to others and think “why can’t I have ____ “. Recently I was reminded of how far we have come in a society based on electronics. I observe young people with their faces constantly in their phones and their mantras of “I don’t make enough money,” and “I’m not thin enough” or “my face isn’t as clear as I want it to be” and this list grows. We have learned to compare ourselves and our lives to the others, as they have posted online.

This led me to remember the COVID-19 lockdown, which was five years ago, now.  There is no denying the disease was horrible for many, many people. WHO reports an excess mortality rate of three million people, worldwide, 1.8 million deaths were reported from 2020 alone. Worldometer reported more than seven million deaths by mid-April 2024.  Reports are no longer being updated as reporting has almost stopped.  Some health care workers say the reporting was inaccurate. Still, we cannot deny the epidemic was frightening and life-threatening for many.

Why do I drop this bomb in the middle of a discussion on gratefulness? Because many people stayed healthy throughout the epidemic. I note that as devastating as the lockdown was for individuals and our economy, those of us left to complain can’t seem to let go. It occurred to me how lucky I am to live in a country that cared enough for “my” well-being, that everything they knew to do at the time was done to protect me and my family.  As good parents do for their ungrateful children, our country made decisions based on the knowledge leaders had at the time. We do not know what would have been different had we not limited our face-to-face interactions. But that is behind us now. Instead of complaining about how my life changed due to those couple of years, I am grateful to live in a country where I can voice my opinion, choose to vaccinate or not, and continue to live my life.

Today I am grateful to have intelligent, caring friends with whom I can discuss issues on which we disagree and remain respectful and appreciative of our relationships. I am grateful for the United States Postal Service that will take a card across the country to let a friend or family member know I am thinking of them.  I am grateful for Amazon, the warehouse workers and the delivery drivers who bring things right to my doorstep.

I am grateful that I can sit outside or stay in – that I have a choice. I am grateful when my grands help clear the table and clean the kitchen or carry out the garbage. I am grateful for my niece who occasionally and randomly sends me a text message just to let me know she is thinking about me.

I am grateful that I have learned not only to be grateful, but to have the ability to think about gratitude.  It lifts my spirits, even to the point of making me smile. In each of our lives every day there is something for which we can be grateful, if only we take a moment to name it.  For what are you grateful today?