Why Gratitude

She handed me a gift.

It was my birthday.

I opened it.

It was portable speaker.

The first thing I blurted out of my mouth was...

"This isn't the one I wanted."

As soon as I said it I regretted it.

My wife, who found the gift for me, frowned.

I felt like melting into the rug. Just disappearing.

I apologized and told her thank you, but the damage was done.

All her hard work to find the perfect portable speaker for me was pointless to her.

Feeling Grateful

My inability to feel gratitude for a gift someone gave me was a wakeup call. Because I struggled to feel appreciation for her gift to me I took a deeper look at myself.

I noticed I found the fault in things instead of seeing what is great about them. This goes for my relationships, my career, and the list went on.

My father passed away a few months ago as I write this to you.

As I remember him in the hospital and how wonderful the gift of an orange was to him I realized something very important.

My brother and I took a walk and brought back an orange.

He smiled from ear to ear. It was beautiful to see him happy even just for a few moments.

He was in pain and unhappy most of the time.

Simple Reminders

We never have enough time on this earth.

We never have enough love in our lives.

The more love we can bring into our lives the better.

The foundation of love is gratitude.

When you appreciate everything that you do have. From a simple orange to a warm home, you should feel grateful.

Every moment is a gift. It's up to us to appreciate it for everything it is, not what we wish it to be.

Many times it needs to be taken away for us to truly appreciate it. It's that time when we get over a flu that we are reminded how lucky we are when we are healthy.

That's why it's important to have simple reminders to ground you in gratitude.

It's why I started this blog. If you, me and everyone who reads this website brings more gratitude into their lives then I've done my job.