I read a while back that a person can appreciate a marriage or a friendship by thinking of all the things that might have prevented it. If she had not wanted to be a teacher, if her family had not moved near that college, even if she had had gone to the library that day….
Gratitude and wonder are helpful feelings, easy to appreciate and enjoy. It doesn't take much to extend the notion to other parts of life. Think of doing without, think of losing something and suddenly having it as part of your life can be a big deal. When I pause for a moment, I often direct my attention to my feet. They carry me around. Without conscious effort, I don't pay much attention to them. I am trying to move my attention around and notice things I usually don't.
The other day, I thought of my feet but I also thought of the floor. Last year, we had new flooring installed so the floor's wood-like appearance gets my attention. I often think of my gratitude for our roof and our walls and our windows. When it is quite cold outside or very warm, our house does a good job of giving us a comfortable, useable, enjoyable space. But this time, I thought of our floors. Again, would I miss them if they were gone? You bet. Would it affect me if one of those Hawaiian lava flows ate a hole through our floor?
I can still remember the time I volunteered to cut firewood in the forest in northern Wisconsin in late spring. Lovely temperature, wonderful light and the mosquitos thought so, too. I quickly found what it is like to be assaulted, swarmed by bugs and bugs and bugs. I am thankful for our floors. Hope they last and last.
