Feeling Lucky? Well,You should

I have been thinking over the past week how much we take for granted, and how much the poorer we are for that. I suppose it is a human failing, and since we are human, we must accept imperfection. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could appreciate more, and I’m not talking about the extraordinary things, but the ordinary everyday things? Last week’s rain seemed to have brought with it an allergy bomb. Everyone I know who suffers from seasonal allergies surely thought they had a cold last week. I know I did, and it made me quite miserable. Since I was also recovering from a surgery I had had, it was twice as miserable to have a drippy nose and cough. But with the exception of the cough, it’s all behind me now. Our everyday good health is something we surely take for granted. We awaken, even if we have had a poor night, and go about our business. For some it means getting off to work, or getting the kids off to school, or pulling ourselves into our day. Easier said than done for some who are struggling with illnesses or mental or emotional challenges. Wouldn’t it be nice to take note of how you are able to negotiate that stubborn toaster, or how easy the commute to work was today, or how your stubbornly picky eater ate the breakfast without a single complaint? No need to thank God or your stars or the Universe, but just to take note. It will lighten your step. I am also guilty of taking for granted the plenty that I experience every day, although I work hard to make that a fact. I was thinking of running out of the tissues in my box in the middle of the day, and I had but to ask Bob to get me another from under the sink where I store extras to be supplied with a fresh box. How lucky am I that I can afford to keep extra boxes of tissues on hand? Same goes for bread and butter and milk. If we have run out of the spare half gallon, then someone can zip down to the store and get another without having to retrieve change from the couch cushions. Not everyone is that lucky. I realized today that although I have been ill, all of my needs were met, I was never hungry or cold, I had the luxury of clean clothes and sheets, medical care available—what more could one need? What we need is to notice our amazing luck to have been born in this time and this place, to these parents, who taught us and nurtured us and educated us and loved us. So today, while people are still asking “How are you feeling?”, I can say truthfully, that I am fine and for that I am grateful. So will I not take things for granted in future? Of course I will because after all, I am human. But will I continue to take that five minutes before sleep claims me at night to realize a couple of things I have to be grateful for? Nothing formal, nothing written, yes, I will do that too. Today I learned something so significant from just the preface of a book loaned to me for my convalescence, that I can’t wait to get to the meat of it. And that is that every act has two parts. The giving and the receiving, the speaking and the hearing, the teaching and the learning, and so on. When we are on the giving or speaking or teaching side, it is incumbent upon us to make sure that the other side is possible as well. If what I teach falls on deaf ears, then what have I offered. Today I am grateful for that. And I will not take for granted that what I say has been heard or understood, that what I have taught has been learned. And this goes for the "luck" we experience in our lives. It happens and if we receive it with awareness and notice, it brings more joy, a better outlook, the ability to think of ourselves as "Lucky", which make our whole life seem better. I think of myself as Lucky, I hope you will too.