When I awoke this morning, I wasn’t feeling connected to a particular topic for today. My thoughts were scattered. And then a Blackberry text message from a friend I haven’t spoken to in a while set off a light. I wished my husband’s friend a quick happy new year this morning and asked him how he was doing. His reply, “Happy New Year to you too. We are overdue to get together. Things are okay. They could definitely be better, but then again, I could be in Haiti.”
Wow, I thought. How true. I forwarded that message to my husband immediately. I wanted him to see the positive attitude that his friend had, and to see his gratefulness, vs. what he was lacking. My husband, not always one for seeing the glass half full, indeed got the message. We are so caught up in the daily rat race, that we don’t often show appreciation and gratitude for what we DO have. We harp on what’s lacking, or what’s wrong. We take those we love and what we have for granted.
Look at the devastation in Haiti. After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the death toll is in the tens of thousands. These people have lost their homes, their families, their roads, their resources. And yet, we watch the news, disconnected in our own lives at the fragility of life. We’ve lost sight of the true meaning of life. We are green with envy. We are greedy. We want more and more. We look to our neighbors to see what they have. We don’t look at the goodness that we have in our own homes.
So today’s blog was to remind you, that when the going gets tough, it could always be tougher. It may be easier said than done, but make the effort today. Make today the day where you look at the job you may hate, and think, at least I HAVE A JOB. Look at your kids who may fluster you sometimes, and think, I was able to CONCEIVE a child. Be thankful today. Be grateful.
We’re not nearly thankful enough. You have that choice.
xoxEDxox
P.S. – Mom, Happy 60th Birthday today! I’m grateful to be able to celebrate with you tonight.
I got very teary eyed after reading today’s blog post. You are spot on. I’m going to stop complaining and be thankful. I could be more appreicative it’s true. Thanks for this blog post.
On the request of ED herself… I’m not much of a blogger or attention seeker, however nor am i a MARTYR!
Therefore I would like to thank ED for using me as her inspiration in today’s blog. I didn’t think much of the comment this morning but, when i read the blog I was thinking: “wow I indirectly might have inspired hundreds or even thousands of people today”.
Which made me think of a story I heard from a Chabad Rabbi. The premise of the story was that if you hold a stick in your fist and move your fist one inch to the left or right the bottom of the stick barely moves. However if you measure the movement of the same one inch at the top its huge. (you can try it if you want it really works) Anyways, I just thought that a small comment this morning which was like a small movement at the bottom of the stick (thanks to ED) I hope has became a huge inspiration to many.
All the good blessings!
Great analogy!
I now see the LIGHT!!! Thank you JA
On another note, I wish the people of Haiti a quick recovery to normalcy!
May we find out that their casualty estimates were significantly overstated.
Love you hubby. See you tonight!! xoxo
Inspiring piece.
So inspiring, and you hit the nail on the head! Let’s all be thankful!!
ED – I just came across your post and could not agree more, I know there have been many times in my own life where I have forgotten to look at all the blessings I have, and instead focus on some of the dark spots.
Being thankful and letting people that matter to you know how you feel is such an important thing that I’ve found can really make a difference.
I work for State Farm and we made a site, Thanksforbeingthere.com, solely for the purpose of thanking someone who has made a difference in your life. You can even send the link of your post to the person who you’re honoring! I thought I’d suggest it as a nice way to get a special message to someone important.
Thank you!
Marty, GREAT WEBSITE! What a super concept. I hope my readers go and thank someone today. We don’t often say thank you enough. 🙂
Thankful is a pointless synonym for grateful for those people who learned English from the back of a cornflakes packet.
The I AM GR8FUL CLUB is the next best thing to sitting in a conference or attending a life-changing seminar, which is usually held in some far-flung place, at great expense, having taken heaps of time away from your work or family. The iamgr8ful club is available to you at a TINY fraction of the cost, and you can learn & use our tools at any time that’s convenient for you through the power and portability of the internet.
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