If you can’t be grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you’ll be grateful when you have more?

(Charlie “Tremendous” Jones)

Being Grateful

I’ve written about this subject many times before, but I thought about it again yesterday and this morning.

Yesterday I was going over some of my notes from my previous books and I was reminded of the story of Peggy Chun, an artist from Hawaii.  Peggy was stricken with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and passed away last year.  Peggy was an amazing woman.  Despite being stricken in bed, unable to move anything except her eyes, she had a zest for life.  She wanted to live each day and enjoyed each day to its fullest.

Although I haven’t talked about it much, I’ve been in the middle of a massive exercise program.  I go walking, outside, for several hours daily (usually 3 to 6 hours).  It has been an incredible experience.

Well yesterday, I didn’t feel like going walking.  Despite that, I got up and went for a nice 3 hour walk.  I felt much better at the end than I did at the beginning.  While walking, I kept thinking that Peggy Chun would have LOVED to have been able to go on a walk like the one I was taking.  Just think about it.  I was “grumpy” because I was doing something pleasurable that many other people either don’t have the time to do or the physical ability to do.

At that moment, I became grateful for the experience.

This morning, while shaving, I was thinking of how it is a “pain” to have to shave.  I then reminded myself that shaving is a privilege and there are no doubt many people in the world who would have loved to have had that experience.  I know Peggy Chun would like to have shared the experience (although she was a woman).

Same thing with taking a shower.  The water was cold when I started my shower.   I told myself that there are probably millions of people in this world who would love to have the privilege of taking a shower, even a cold one, any time they wanted to.

This is the kind of appreciation we all need to bring in our lives.  As a consequence, my new motto is:

What would Peggy Chun have done had she had the chance?

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