This is the time of year we all start moaning about how much we still have left to do, buy, clean, and get ready for the holidays. Monday morning, I was facing a To Do list that was threatening to topple onto me like a stack of “treasure” in a hoarder’s house. The Grinch had conspired with my To Do list to kill me.
In a singular moment of adult clarity (it will probably never happen again), I realized my focus was in all the wrong places.I was irritated at the laundry, the kitchen, the presents to wrap, and the floors to clean.
Instead, I resolved to be thankful. I am thankful to have nice clothes to wash, dry, and hang up in my closet. I am thankful to have a large kitchen filled with food and utensils. I am thankful that I have presents to give my children for Christmas. I am thankful to live in a house, dust bunnies and all.
I hope I remember tomorrow, and the next day, and the next to be thankful for my blessings, but more than that. I pray that I will be content with my blessings so I do not forget to be thankful in the first place.
I had a similar moment earlier this year when Dane and I took my niece and nephew to the Dallas Zoo. We took the DART rail train to the zoo to avoid traffic and parking. On the way there Dane and I were talking (ok, complaining) about things we still “needed” to update and change in our house. On the way back, while waiting for the train, there was a homeless man that just wanted enough change to buy a train pass to ride during the day. It occurred to me that he wanted to do so, not because he had anywhere to go, but because it was air conditioned and a safer place to sleep than outside. When we got back home we then started to talk about how ungrateful we felt because we have a nice house, in a safe neighborhood, with A/C and that maybe we should stop complaining about our good life.