“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” – Eric Hoffer
One thing I have learned over the last few years is that stress and gratitude simply cannot exist at the same time. Especially when a change or a challenge enters our lives, we have this opportunity to lighten up by realizing how good we truly have it; how much we do have; and how many things are going well!
People get all stressed out in traffic-jams as they sit in their cars – their cars! Those things are expensive and hey, I’m pretty sure that no matter how bad the traffic, walking would take much longer. Instead of huffing and puffing and honking our horns as we sit on the highway, we can take a look at how lucky we are to be driving in the first place and say, “Wow! Look at me in my car!” At the grocery store, some people stand in the checkout lines looking completely disgusted with life. The expression on their faces is a combination of frustration and looking like they’re working through a severe gas pain. These people are fortunate enough to be in a store that has all kinds of food available in one place and they’re waiting to buy this food with all of their money! Rather than rolling their eyes and sighing out loud as they flip through the latest issue of People Magazine, they could stand there and say, “Wow! Look at me in a grocery store!” In this age of abundance where there is an extraordinary amount of access and choice, I do believe our expectations have become rather warped. We could use a little reality check to help us notice and appreciate how blessed we are.
If you’re up for a little more irony, our modern conveniences have led to the creation of more stressful thoughts rather than less. You’ll see the irony clearly if you go online and do a search for the happiest places on earth. Bless us and our first world problems. Have you noticed the horror on people’s face when their cell phone signal drops mid-conversation and they have to call someone back? In our hands, we are holding phones that used to be attached to our kitchen wall! Didn’t we love the kitchen phone with it’s mile-long cord that made it possible to chat with someone while we watched folded some laundry, made our bed, and reorganized the garage? No we can roam the entire earth with the kitchen phone and we complain about roaming charges! Not only are we holding the kitchen phone in our hands, but now most of us are holding a computer as well! Ah, but we’ll be damned if our phone is slow connecting us on to the Internet! These phones of ours basically send and receive magical signals to and from mars and if takes a few seconds longer to do that, we call it a piece of crap and we want a new one. Rather than curse and growl in that moment, we could simply smile as Facebook uploads on to the screen, and say, “Wow! Someone I hardly know wants to be my friend!” So, anytime you’re sitting in traffic, roll down your window, smile at the guy in the lane beside you, and yell, “WOW! Look at us in our cars!” Now, you’re probably going to get the finger, but you’ll be feeling so good it won’t matter.
When the mind starts spinning and the thoughts get racing, breathe deeply…take a look at you and your first world problems…notice how good you truly have it, how much you do have, and how many things are going well. Peel yourself off the ceiling by choosing an “ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE”.
Big Love,
susan