Time for Gratitude

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ John F. Kennedy

I counted, this is my 19th post on the Ministry of Happiness about gratitude.  Outside of Happiness and the Appalachian Trail, it’s the topic that has come up the most often in my writing and their is a good reason for that to happen.  You see, happiness and gratitude are very much tied together.  It’s not just enough to strive for happiness, to get enough sleep, work to reduce your stress, to overcome your comfort zones and your fears.

You have to, from time to time, sit back and take inventory of how fortunate you are.  No matter how bad things might be, today or in your life there are always things you can be grateful for, if nothing else, for your life itself and all of the possibilities that creates.

So what has me thinking about gratitude today, well frankly, a lot.  Life is good right now, I’ve written about that recently.  However right now in California, it’s not that way for a whole lot of folks.  There are major fires raging in the northern part of the state, some about 30 miles from where I’m writing this.  Over 180,000 people  are under evacuation orders, over a million people don’t have power.  My college has been closed since Saturday and will be closed tomorrow.  Sitting here, with power, not under an evacuation warning is something to be very grateful for tonight.  I know people who are not fortunate enough tonight to be able to say either of those things.  Many have been through similar occurrences in the last few years and so the stress of all of this is really wearing them out.

It’s amazing that in the United States of America, the most technologically advanced country in the history of the world,  where Silicon Valley resides, over a million people are living without power.  You can never take for granted what you have, you never know when it can go away, so tonight just take a moment my friends, be grateful, and have a happy day.  ~ Rev Kane