Be Grateful Today

Guess what? I got out of bed today! Isn't that fantastic? I mean, when you look at it, I get to face another day and have the opportunity to enjoy it. I think that is one of the most wonderful gifts anyone can get; and most of us get this gift every single day! I really do think that is fantastic! You can decide to turn over a new leaf every 24 hours! You can do today what you didn't do yesterday (or, what you should have done yesterday). You can be the bigger person and forgive someone you are upset with. This makes you feel good, you know? You can wake up and thank God for your beautiful family, immediate or otherwise, and know you've been blessed. I'm feeling very grateful today for my family, for my job, for my love of music and for so many little things too numerous to mention. I'm grateful that I am healthy and happy. I am grateful that I know how to work the stupid laminating machine in the mail room at work. I am grateful for Scott Joplin and the beauty of his talent. I am grateful for the anticipation of the sun rising above the horizon; the anticipation of another lovely day in East Tennessee. I am grateful for the fact that I have a car that runs well enough to get me to and from work with no major issues, even if it doesn't have heat or a speedometer that works. I am grateful I am alive. I think all this gratitude was sparked by two things this morning: 1) Hallerin Hilton Hill, who starts his early morning talk radio show with encouraging words and who challenged his listeners to think about things they are grateful for every hour on the hour yesterday, and then to start writing about them today. An entire week of different things to do to express your gratitude. This is awesome and so very powerful, you should try it. 2) I saw, from a distance, a horrible wreck as I was driving to work this morning. It happened on a road that I sometimes take because it's a bit more scenic than the Parkway and still dumps me out exactly where I need to be. I usually don't go that way when it's dark or raining or otherwise not light outside, because it's a somewhat twisty-turny road and, though my driving skills are impeccable (if I do say so myself) I don't want to risk depriving my family of...well...me. Then, after I passed the spinning red, blue and white emergency lights, wondering in my head what actually happened, Dave Foulk came on the radio explaining that someone had been killed in a wreck on that road and the emergency service crews were still working to recover the body. Ah...so that's what happened. It just makes me all the more grateful that I woke up healthy and able this morning. And my stupid finger is most likely not broken. I had x-rays taken yesterday and don't really know anything for sure, but I saw the images and to this untrained eye, I didn't see any fractures. Thank God! Even if it were broken, I still woke up today and am 99% functional, which, as far as I am concerned, is something to be grateful for. Thank you Hallerin, for putting me on this path of gratitude. Oh - and to share a very quick story: I opened a pill bottle this morning to take my AM meds and immediately dropped the pill on the floor. My first thought, as the pill fell in slo-mo to the floor was, "Ah crap!" because I knew I'd have to shut the bathroom door, turn on the light and pray that I found the pill so the kids or the dog didn't get it. But just as quickly, turned my face to the Heavens and said, "Thank you, God!" because the pill landed - "PLOINK!" - on my foot, between my big toe and the one next to it. Perfect as you please. If that's not God talking, I don't know what is! TTFN JMS