I Should Be More Grateful

I should be more grateful
 
I am one of those people who has to have everything inorder, and by order I mean “understood”. I don’t like having problems at work or at home, little fights with friends or disagreements with the lady behind the counter.  I embellish a little but I dwell a lot.  I need to learn to let things go, to get to the bottom of things, appreciate more.  Too often I feel sorry for myself on things I cannot control.  I feel helpless and want to just scream. I am one of those people you see at a stoplight that is just staring into the abyss because I can’t stop dwelling on my problems.

What problems you ask?

I don’t have any problems, that’s the sad part.  I have a healthy family.  That’s all I need.  If you think about it, having your health and a few people around you that genuinely love you, that’s all you need to survive.  There are people that cannot pay their heating bills, put food on the table, many who have lost their job, good people lying in a hospital bed with no health coverage…the list can go on for days. I have the same problems as 95% of America.  Stress at work, bills to pay, extended family issues, whatever they may be, we all have problems.  But the really good people don’t sweat the small stuff, they accept it as part of life and move on.  I need to move on.  I am a lucky guy, who has a job and a roof over his head.  I have a healthy family and a couple of bucks in my pocket.  I’m tired of feeling sorry for myself when things don’t go exactly as planned, or exactly the way I want them to.  I’m tired of letting other people’s criticism of me get below the surface.  I’m tired of complaining.  This holiday season, I am going to try to be more grateful for the pure things in life, like health and family.  I need to take a deep breath, slow down, and understand that life is not supposed to be a paved road for 85 years, rather a gravel road with many decisions and consequences, but all part of the learning experience that we call life.

After all, it can be taken away as quickly as it was given to us.