I think it’s a biological thing, but we seem to forget about so many great things in our lives because they aren’t changing. We don’t notice stuff unless it’s out of the ordinary. We don’t appreciate our health until we are sick, for example. Anyway, I’m gonna’ list some stuff that I’m grateful for that I don’t really pay attention to. Please add to this list.

My thumbs.

Electric Fans.

Air Conditioning

The fact that I can go to the store any day of the week right here in my home town and get a banana if I want one.

The fact that someone comes to my house every week and picks up my garbage.

Running water.

The telephone.

The printing press, and the fact that I have so many books in my home, many of which I haven’t even read yet, and there is a library close to my home if I want to use it.

Roads.

I can close my eyes anytime I want and go anywhere I can imagine.

Oh yeah I second that – especially the part about bananas. A few years ago there was a bad cyclone that damaged one of Australia’s main banana growing region and the price went from around $2 per kilo to about $13 per kilo. I couldn’t have hummingbird cake on my birthday because the bakery stopped making them due to the high price of bananas!

So true we often don’t think of what we have until it’s gone, and we should not let that happen.

One thing that I love is if a friend comes to visit and I can play tour guide. That really opens up your eyes when experienced through an outsider. I get a new found appreciation for where I live.

We don’t usually appreciate things as a child, my parents used to take us for ‘long boring drives on weekends’. As an adult revisiting those places I can’t believe how beautiful & nice it is, and all we did was complain. What an annoying ungrateful child I must have been!!

In response to selfcare's’s post:
 D.C. is one of the cities I used to live in. I loved it and miss it now, especially when I remember that the azalias (spelling?) are all in full bloom now :-)

I am very much grateful for being where I am right now though. When I started work here over 3 years ago, amazed by the lake and the scenery here, I decided to make a conscious effort as to not take it for granted. I have been good sofar. And I tell everyone also, have you seen the lake today? you need to pay attention to it, otherwise it will sulk and go away :-)

It is so true how things look different when you are a child or a teenager than when you see them as an adult. I remember going to paris when I was 17 then again when I was 35. HUGE difference :-) At 35 it was way way more exciting to be in Paris and seeing the river, the Notre Dame, the etoile, the mont martre etc. etc.

Today's conversation at lunch was also being grateful for ones health, without that everything else would be meaningless.

When I lived in the Bay Area of California, I took for granted the beauty & natural serenity of the ocean. I didn’t spend near enough time there. Now that i am land-locked, I totally appreciate what I had.

I am very grateful for my eyesight. I am legally blind without corrective lenses. Thank goodness that I can wear contacts or glasses, because I couldn’t imagine all that I would miss without them.

I am grateful for the house I live in. I can make the payments easily and many people are struggling with that.

I am thankful for my beautiful children. They are a handful, but they are healthy. I have to remind myself that because I got a phone call from the school nurse today. It seems as though my #4 son brought a packet of my work face masks (the kind worn so you don’t inhale spice powder into your lungs) to school and was dispensing them out to all of his friends to protect them from the swine flu. Is there swine flu near us? No, however, he told everyone his little sister was suffering from it. Thus, prompting a call from a VERY PANICKED school nurse. Did I say I was thankful for his imagination too???

Good idea, MCM!!! There is so much to be thankful for on a daily basis!! One big one is that my dad is still here with me. It is weird to think that I am the same age my dad was when my mom gave birth to me. If I was that old having a kid… YIKES!!!

In response to meditatingmama’s post:
Too funny re your son & swine flu – he sounds great.

♡ ˚Allowing Beautiful Thoughts  

Posted on 12/07/2017.

thread from 2009-love to see it brought current...

we had a lapse of sharing for awhile... Though lets honor what we got today on a great thread like this!! 

Great things we (sometimes) take for granted ...continued:

• Casual conversations with people who make it even easier to be yourself & grow
• Choice
• Tools that we've picked up over the decades  that work!!! Just hearing that creates enthusiasm for wonderful possibilities!
• Creativity ...
• Brand newness of each moment