You and I are very fortunate right now.  We are blessed beyond belief.  However, it is easy to lose sight of this in our day-to-day lives.  We get busy and focused on the nuisances and anxieties of work, raising families, and traffic.  We lose focus on what is really important and stop being grateful.  Instead, we start feeling sorry for ourselves and get mildly depressed about the boring routine of life.  We get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed.  It is comfortable, but boring.  Oh, how we take it all for granted!  We really need to remind ourselves of all we have to be grateful for.

The trap of ungratefulness with everyday living.

I’m guilty of this way of thinking.  It happens to me all the time.  It is one of the perils of living in a country where we enjoy so much peace, security, and abundance.  However, there are others out there in our world, even in our own country, that aren’t enjoying all that we are right now.  They are dealing with disaster, hunger, war, drought, and famine.  They are struggling just to get by.  I’ve been there in a small way when I lost my home to a tornado so I can relate, but I have so much to be grateful for now.

Let’s take the time to review why we should be grateful.

I don’t want to bring you down.  In fact, I hope to do just the opposite.  I want to help you realize just how fortunate we are.  I want to highlight some of the plight going on in the world so you can stop and realize just how great your life is right now.

Be grateful that we have food to feed our children.

Last Friday, ABCNews reported that there are 10 million Afghan people that are hungry.  The report showed the fresh grave of a three-year old girl that died from starvation.  I have two young daughters and the thought of not being able to feed them is very disturbing to say the least.  I cannot imagine the horror of watching my child wither away.  I am so grateful that I live in a place where access to food is not an issue.

Be grateful that we live in a peaceful place.

The website Iraq Body Count reports that possibly as many as 92,000 civilians have died from the violence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.  I know that this is gruesome to hear, but it is reality.  To put this in perspective, according to the 2000 Census, this was equivalent to the population of Santa Barbara, California.  I think it is hard for us to imagine this kind of violence in the United States.  We don’t have to worry when we take a trip to Wal-Mart that we might be killed by a suicide bomber.  I am grateful that I live in a peaceful country.

Be grateful that we have the money to pay our mortgages.

Foreclosures were up in May about 48% over last year.  Over 250,000 families received notices that they would be losing their homes.  I know that many of these people couldn’t afford to buy a home in the first place and that they should never have done so.  However, this doesn’t change the fact that they are losing their homes now.  Where will they go?  Their credit is in shambles and they are obviously broke.  As a father and husband, I would hate the feeling that I couldn’t afford to pay for our home.  I am very grateful that I have the money to pay my mortgage!

Be grateful that we aren’t paying over $9.00 per gallon for gas (yet!).

In France, they are paying as much as $9.66 for a gallon of gasoline!  That’s over double the average price here in the United States.  So, while it’s true that gas prices have soared over 144% since May 2003, we are still enjoying lower prices than what many people are paying.  How would you like to pay over $200 for a tank of gas in your mid-sized car?  This is what they are experiencing in Turkey where prices are over $11.00 per gallon!  I am grateful that I filled up my car last night for $3.71 per gallon.

Be grateful that your home is not underwater.

The Cedar River in Iowa has forced over 20,000 people from their homes.  According to the story from MSNBC, at least 438 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids.  What a mess!  I think back to the pictures I saw from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  Floods like this leave a massive mess and often homeowners are not insured against water damage like this.  Some of these people have lost everything and their insurance won’t help.  My heart goes out to these people.  I am grateful that my home is not underwater.

Be grateful that you are here to live another day.

Tim Russert, the moderator of Meet The Press, died last week at the age of 58.  He was at work and had just returned from a family vacation when he suffered a heart attack that took his life.  We often take for granted that we will wake up each morning.  Mr. Russert was enjoying fabulous success in his career and was unaware of any life-threatening health issues.  Life is short and we never know when our time is up.  I am very grateful that I have another day to live, be happy, and enjoy my life.

We really do have plenty to be grateful about.

As you can see from the recent news, we have plenty to be thankful for in our lives.  I am grateful that I am not dealing with any of these situations and I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much more tragedy going on in the world.  It all makes my sometimes boring, routine life very desirable.  I am grateful that I have the life that I do.  I hope you are grateful too!

Photo by SuziJane