Finding the good in our worst moments
The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.
-Dr. Robert Holden
Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.
-John Wood
Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
-Melody Beattie
It has been a particularly hard workday. On your way to the parking lot, you grumble, “Man, sometimes I hate this horrible job.” This horrible job—the one that feeds your family, puts your kids through school, provides your upper-middle-class home in your upper-middle-class neighborhood. The job that provided your family’s health insurance when everyone was sick last winter and quarantined for two weeks—while you continued to be paid. That horrible job.
You slam the car door and turn the key. Your battery is dead. “Dang!” you scream and rest your head on the steering wheel, remembering that you meant to get the battery replaced last weekend but chose to take your kids fishing instead. A nice reward for being a good dad. You pull the phone from your pocket, call roadside assistance, and fifteen minutes later, a truck arrives, your battery is replaced and paid for with a credit card, and you’re on your way home. While waiting for the service, you spend the idle time returning emails that you would have had to answer later, saving yourself some time. “Stupid car,” you lament. You’ve missed your tee time at the club. You call the guys and apologize. “See ya next week!”
Your wife pulls into the driveway almost simultaneously, and she has a few grocery bags to carry inside. She stopped after work for steaks to throw on the grill this evening. Before she unloads the car, she hugs you hello, and you carry the bags into the house for her. A few minutes later, you’ve both changed clothes, and the steaks are sizzling out back as the kids set the table. Sure, it’s nice to have time with the wife and kids, but you were really looking forward to some golf today. Well, you can’t have everything. “I never get a break.”
