One thing I'm good at is taking things for granted.
I suppose that we all do that, but I'm especially good at failing to appreciate blessings. Special, surprising things still get my attention, of course. But the more normal, ordinary blessings are easy to miss.
Hopefully, you are not like me in that regard - but I suspect that you are.
At least a little.
These past couple of months have been my wake-up call when it comes to blessings. I still take things for granted; I may never completely overcome that unattractive habit. All the same, I find myself these days being deeply grateful for the most ordinary things.
Three specific blessings come to mind this morning.
First, I am so grateful to be able to enjoy a good meal. I haven't eaten much over the past couple of months. In fact, I lost quite a bit of weight that I really didn't need to lose. Finally, I'm now able to eat again and I have been amazed by how wonderful that is. Julie laughs at me when I make over perfectly ordinary dishes. Honestly, though, everything tastes so good. And I find myself not rushing to get through the meal, but actually slowing down and savoring the food and the time and the conversation. Food is easy to take for granted - and I'm not doing that quite so much right now. I am so grateful for good food, and for the health to enjoy it.
Second, I am grateful for sleep. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I've been sleeping a lot. And it's been deep, restorative sleep. I told a friend this morning that I hadn't slept well during the recent time that I was sick. And that is certainly true. But as soon as I said those words, it dawned on me that that's not the whole story. If the truth is to be told, I haven't had too much good sleep . . . for several years. I filled out a form this morning that asked me to rank my level of stress on a scale from zero to ten. In the past, I would have put down "eight" or "nine." Today, I quickly wrote down "two." (And the only reason the number was that high was that I felt a little embarrassed to go lower than that.) Suddenly, I'm sleeping again. And I am deeply grateful for that. Sleep is easy to take for granted - but I realize now what a precious blessing it is to sleep and rest and even dream.
Third, I am grateful for strength enough to work out. I realize that most people hate physical exercise, but I cannot put into words what a joy it was to go to the gym today. I've finally been cleared to exercise again, and I cannot wait to get at it. Before I got sick, I was working out almost every day. And I feel ready to do that again. Rather than dreading exercise, I'm looking forward to it - and I am deeply grateful that I can do that. Again, it would be easy to take that for granted, but I'm not taking it for granted today.
Businesses and organizations often follow what they call "best practices." It seems to me that individuals should pursue best practices as well. And some of those best practices are so simple. Right now, I'm eating well. I'm sleeping. I'm working out as much as I can. And I'm doing a few other things too. But all of it is focused toward health and wholeness and life.
Some of the steps are so simple that I could easily miss them completely. But I realize that I'll never find health and wholeness and life . . . without those simple steps.