One of my favorite sayings is, "It's not having what you want that makes you happy. It's wanting what you already have." An easy, poignant thing to say for sure, but is it really true? I see lots of people who seem to have everything one could ever want. They live in beautiful houses. They drive expensive cars, boats, go-carts and motorcycles. They take lavish vacations. Aren't you envious? I was for a long time, and still am occasionally. But then I found out that "those people" usually aren't happy with all their things. Their big houses keep them separated, whereas my tiny house forces the four of us to be within hollerin' distance of each other at all times. Our cars aren't expensive, so we can eat nachos and fries at the local drive-in without worrying about getting cheese on the upholstery. We can't afford lavish vacations, so we take road trips instead. And if you've never taken a really great road trip with 2 adolescent boys (3, counting my husband!), you just haven't lived. You get it. To further make my point, I'm going to write a blog each day about something simple that I am just SO grateful for. Maybe it'll just be for me, remind me of just how blessed I am. Or maybe it'll help someone out there in Internet Land to stop and take a look around at what they DO have. Either way, my kids will read it someday, and they'll remember what a wise woman their mother was (teehee!). So here we go!
DAY ONE! October 11, 2001
Today I am grateful for paint that has the primer built in. Yes, I am! My house was built in 1963, and is in need of renovation. It has all of the lovely 1960s features that were popular back then, the most notable being a LOT of paneling and dark wood moldings and baseboards. I have debated over the years about what exactly to do about these, and I finally decided to jump right in and PAINT! I think I may have misjudged the difficulty of this endeavor. I am working on a hunter green hallway with dark wood door frames (4 of them), and wood molding at the top and bottoms of the walls. I am painting them white, of course. And I am SO grateful that I didn't have to apply primer first! Two coats of tedious small-surface painting has been a chore, but three would have been AWFUL! I'm still not finished, but I can already see how beautiful it's going to look, all lightened up and cheery. So thank you, whoever it was that came up with this marvelous idea. I am grateful for you and your product.
DAY TWO October 12, 2011
Today I am grateful for chicken soup when I have a cold. I know the old chicken soup remedy has been around for a hundred years, but it still works. I'm not a baby when it comes to colds, but I do find them terribly annoying. So when I woke up sniffling and sneezing this morning, I was truly grateful to find chicken noodle soup in the cupboard. I ate it, and really did feel better. I Google'd why chicken soup helps a cold, and found scores of scientific research to back up the Old Wives Tale. Turns out those Old Wives were pretty smart. There are a number of studies that show that chicken soup actually increases the flow of mucous and relieves respiratory inflammation. They say that any hot liquid will help, but studies have shown that chicken soup somehow performs better than just hot water. It appears to have something to do with the soup's aroma, because the studies showed that the effect was not as great for those who drank the soup through a straw. It is better to drink it from a cup, or a bowl. The effect comes entirely from the broth, by the way, not from any pieces of chicken in the soup. So next time you get the creepin' crud (and let's hope you don't anytime soon), be grateful for that can of Progresso or Campbell's Chicken Noodle that's been in your pantry for 6 months. It's a real blessing.
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