Be Thankful

Backstory  

This is a real-life story from fifty years ago.  It was a seminal moment in how I looked at things from then on.  See if you can relate to what happened.

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Be Thankful –  #191

“Be thankful for what you have, not for what you don’t have.” I first heard that mantra back in the 70’s. Be thankful for what you have, not for what you don’t have.

At the time, we were living in our first house. It was a nice 3-bedroom split level in a residential development. But somehow, after a few years, the house seemed small. We needed more garage space, more bedrooms. I wanted bigger, better.

Then the recession hit. Security became very wobbly. The things I had assumed I deserved and would always be mine were being challenged. I might not have a job; my husband might not. Oh boy, how I wish I had those hundreds of dollars we spent on last year’s vacation.

Suddenly I looked around my beautiful, perfect, plentiful home and said, “Please God, just let us keep up the payments. Let us keep this roof over the heads of our children.”

Well, we did survive. The whole country did. Things turned around and we did eventually move on. But I never forgot the lesson I learned then. It may help you too.

Be thankful for what you have, not for what you don’t have.

P.S.   

 In this time of pandemic lock-down, you might hear whining about the claustrophobic aspects of sheltering at home.  Take another look.  There are places where shelter is a tent or a ripple of tin. If yours is better than that, you know what to do.  

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