What Do You Take for Granted?
“One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.”~~~ Peter F. Drucker
After last week’s article called, “Are You Hurting?”, several of you took the time to ask if I was now feeling better and a few of you even sent “giggles” in an effort to cheer me up. I guess when I wrote that article I didn’t realize that I sounded so down in the dumps. However, your responses show that a lot of truth can come out in the words of the writer. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I love to write.
So, my thanks to those of you who wrote and I can say that I’m feeling much better and I hope today’s article will bear that out.
When morning arrives and I reach a point of reasonable consciousness, I begin to think about the things I need to do that day to keep life running somewhat smoothly. This morning, I began to think not only about those “put-it-on-the-list” items, but also about all the things I didn’t need to do to keep life zipping along. Think about it — we don’t need to figure out how to breathe — we don’t have to worry about getting the earth to keep moving around the sun — we don’t have to put our concentration on making our hearts beat or our body cells regenerate. There are literally hundreds of things that just take care of themselves without any assistance from us. Isn’t life grand?
“To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.”~~~ George Kneller
The natural world has so many minute-by-minute miracles happening that we don’t notice at all. Then there’s all the human-created things we take for granted. Most of us have indoor plumbing, electricity, telephones, (now cell phones), our cars, air travel, and the Internet. People who lived here a mere hundred years ago would be blown away by how easily we communicate with people anywhere in the world. We can even see and talk to astronauts out in space or on the moon. I can imagine how much time it would take me to do research for my articles if I didn’t have the Internet. We don’t even think of all these wonderments unless one of them fails. Even then we still take it for granted, don’t we? We just get ticked off when things don’t work the way they should instead of marveling at them when they do.
When you wake up tomorrow, take time to notice how many things are running smoothly, how many small miracles compose your day. Perhaps it will be something someone close to you does for you every day. Notice that your milk is cold thanks to the refrigerator. Your bread gets toasted because you have electricity. Do you wear glasses or contact lenses? How would life be different if those hadn’t been invented? So many things to be grateful for every day.
“When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude”~~~ Cynthia Ozick
As you take in your world, you might feel a moment of gratitude for the basic fact that, once again, the sun has risen to illuminate the abundant earth, and the earth’s gravitational field holds you and all that you hold dear in a tight, life-affirming embrace. Put your thoughts about the frustrations in your day aside for a moment and be grateful for your life.
All of us have so many wonderful things happening in our lives every day. It only take a minute to notice them and enjoy the feeling you get when you realize that we’re darn lucky to be alive.
“I have noticed that what cats most appreciate in a human being is not the ability to produce food, which they take for granted – but his or her entertainment value”~~~ Geoffrey Household
In closing this week, here’s a little something to think about that I’m reprinting with permission from Kickstart Today by Martin Avis www.kickstartdaily.com
In the English language, the four letters ‘ough’ can be pronounced in nine different ways. No wonder English is so hard to learn!
1. uff
2. owe
3. or
4. ow
5. ooh
6. uh
7. ooo
8. off
9. up
Here is a sentence that puts them all in order:
A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough and after falling into his slough he coughed and hiccoughed.
Information doesn’t come much more useless that that folks!
And, as I always say in closing — remember these words …
You are the most precious gift you can give yourself. Every day look in the mirror and say, “I’m available to more good than I have experienced, realized or imagined ever before in my life!” Do this every day while you look into your own eyes.
You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.
Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)
~~~ DBL-R
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[tags]peace, inner self, The Secret, Law of Attraction, dreams, spiritual energy, action, value, inner balance, enlightenment, destiny, manifestation, meditation, patience, gratitude, tolerance, acceptance, body balance, life cycle, beginnings, endings, positive thinking, ego, silence, consciousness, staying grounded, cycle of life[/tags]
