Gratitude...

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot on the subject of gratitude and being thankful for what we have. I like to think that most of us “think” we are grateful. Not to discount what we all feel, but I think we are all wildly inadequate. If we could truly stop and think about EVERYTHING that we have and how it compares to the majority of the world, our heads would explode. It is difficult to comprehend. We say we’re thankful for our clothes, our food, or friends, our family…but are we really?

Actually, I take that all back. I cannot speak for all of you, so I’ll speak in terms of me. I like to think I’m an overall grateful person. I try not to waste the things I have; but I am so incredible short on the gratitude scale. I open the fridge and lament that there is “nothing good to eat”…all the while there are children going to bed hungry. I complain that I can’t find anything to wear…all the while there are people shivering in the streets. I complain that I have nothing to do on the Friday night…all the while there are people fighting for their lives. At times I wallow in self pity, but I’m almost positive that 99% of the world wishes they could live the life I do. Overall, I need to be infinitely more grateful.

I don’t mean to be a downer and call everyone to change their ways and become better people. All I’m saying is that I need to be a better person, and I think it starts with gratitude. I had originally typed this post along with another few paragraphs on the beloved Mother Teresa; but I feel that she deserves her own space. (Thats coming soon...) So instead, I close with a simple quote for Saint Teresa: “The trouble is that rich people, well-to-do people, very often don't really know who the poor are; and that is why we can forgive them, for knowledge can only lead to love, and love to service. And so, if they are not touched by them, it's because they do not know them.” Also, “There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.”

I’m going to try to “know” the poor, in order that I can be touched by them.

Gratitude…jump on board.