Thankful for the "Little" Things

There are a lot of little things I take for granted.

Washer and Dryer
When I was in college, I lived in a house that did not have a washer and dryer. I would take bags and bags of clothes to the laundry mat and wash. It was torturous without a car! I remember losing my favorite pair of shorts during one of these excursions. They must have fallen out, and they were my sister’s Moses Lake Chief basketball shorts! Then, I moved into places that had washer sand dryers in the building. That was better because at least the place was on site. Now that I have my own place, it is so nice to have a washer and dryer in my unit that is my own. Nobody else can use it! It just feels and seems cleaner. I don’t even think about it anymore. The only exception was when they broke down. It took me a few weeks to replace them. I kept eyeing the growing piles of clothes, but I could not accept going back to the laundry mat. So I waited. But there are plenty of people who have to bus or walk their clothes to laundry mats. Some with kid(s) in tow. I will remember to be thankful!

Running Power
Because of my location in the city, I rarely lose power. And if I do, it’s back on quickly. I hear horror stories of friends and colleagues who live away from the city (the further out you go, the worst the story) that lose powers for days. Not only that, but some people don’t even have running water. I remember being in India and being totally grossed out by toilets that don’t flush. Yes, your spoiled American tourist vomited not once but twice. I also remember having random power outages and being like what in the world?! I will remember to be thankful!

There is so much more. Having both arms and legs. It’s only when a part of body is in pain that I realize it’s there. It’s okay that my arm is hurting. It means I have an arm! Having warm shelter. It’s been cold, and my heat has been on. Yeah. I will complain when my heat bill comes, but I have money to pay it. I have a job and an income. When I go over budget, I can go to a savings account to get money from there. When some people run out, that’s it. They could also have kid(s) to feed.

I am very aware of how differently my life could have turned out. It isn’t that I didn’t make any bad decisions. I can list a whole bunch right now to prove my point. I just didn’t have to face dire consequences that resulted from my bad choices. Thank God for His Grace and Mercy! I have been so blessed, and I hope to never take that for granted. There are a lot of things that I have that make me rich. I don’t mean financially. I mean rich with a great life with great people around me. For that, I am grateful!