Giving what we take for granted…some gratitude!

Another year is coming to a close which means the holiday season is here along with all its cheer!

Thursday, we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, and I can’t think of a better way to kick of the holidays and get into the Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) spirit, than to take inventory of the blessings we all received throughout the year!

Now typically when I ask family and friends what they are thankful for I usually hear these top three responses.

1. “Oh…I’m thankful for my job.”
2. “I’m thankful for my health.”
3. ‘I’m thankful for my wonderful family and great friends!”

Now I agree that family, friends, good health and a great job are definitely things worthy of gratitude, but this year I’d like for us all to think about things that may not be so obvious. For example, the things we usually overlook and may not notice until they are gone.

So with that theme in mind here are the Top Ten Things that I’m thankful for that are typically taken for granted vs. given gratitude.

1. Clean Water – During the summer this year I spent some time in Kimbe, Papua New Guinea.  There were a number of times when clean running water just wasn’t available.  Normally, when we flush the toilet we hardly give a thought to the fact that water is needed to wash our waste away.  Nothing quite like having to make a decision about whether you should drink the last of the water in your water bottle or brush your teeth with it.
2. Hot Water – The hot water tank in my house needed to be replaced earlier this year.  Enough said!
3. My Left Pinky Finger – I popped the ligaments in my left pinky finger playing football in March.  As a result, my finger had to be splinted for over 3 months to allow the ligaments to reattach and heal.  During the healing process it became painfully apparent why we have that fifth friendly digit on our hand.  Believe it or not it’s not just to hit the ‘shift key’ and the letter ‘a’ when typing.
4. Google – The closest we’ve ever gotten to human omniscience.  Ask me anything…I mean absolutely anything…and give me 5 minutes! Google!
5. Airplane Seat Belts – I’ve done a lot of traveling on airplanes.  As usual…when we become accustom to certain rituals we begin to question them and take them for granted.  Earlier this year I was on an American Airline flight from Miami back home to Chicago when the captain turned on the fasten-seat belt sign.  I rolled my eyes and buckled my seat belt and boy am I happy I did!  About a minute later we hit an air pocket that sent plates and glasses and anybody who didn’t buckle in up to the luggage storage bins and back down again.  Yikes!
6. LinkedIn.com – My job requires quite a bit of networking.  Periodically, I have found myself having a great conversation with a peer or colleague I’ve just met and when it comes time to exchange business cards, either I left them in the car or I’m just all out.  To save face, I’ve coined a new phrase.  It goes like this, “Hey forget a business card.  I want to make sure we connect so let me ‘Link-You-In‘.”  We then pull out our smartphones and connect on LinkedIn.com.  Genius, huh?  Remember you heard that here first.
7. Front Facing Camera option on cell phones – With the invention of Instagram, there are more self-portrait photographs being taken everyday, than ever before.  At least now that most people have the Front Facing Camera function on their cellphones we aren’t being subjected to the reflection of them off their dirty mirror, which also exposes other intimate happenings in their bedroom or bathroom space. #cleanyourroomfirst #flushyourtoilet
8. Kindle – I’m usually reading about three books at a time.  Why?  Well…it’s nice to choose a book based on my mood.  So previous to the invention of the Kindle my work bag was always heavy and stuffed with books that were potential reading material on a plane.  Now…my bag is still heavy, but it’s not from all the books.  Kindle fixed that.
9. Street Vendors – Funny how the same guys that have a knack for annoying us on the street, turn out to be our saviors the next day.  Leaving a meeting in New York City recently, I walked out of the building and was greeted by pouring rain.  The same gentleman who had tried to sell me a NYC T-shirt that morning, greeted me with a smug smile now holding a box full of umbrellas.  “How much?”, I asked.  He smirked and said, “For you my friend…five dollars.”
10. Android – That’s right!  I said it!  For all you iPhone lovers out there, just know that you are now using an inferior operating system.  The Android operating system coupled with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy III or the Motorola Electrify II is just hot.  Now if you still use a Blackberry…smh. (smh is a modern 2012 text abbreviation which means ‘shaking my head’.)

I’d love to hear what the top things are that you normally take for granted but deserve gratitude.  Leave it in a reply comment or post it to the Inspirational Perspective Facebook Page.

Be sure to ask your friends and love ones the same question this Thanksgiving, and let’s give what we normally take for granted some gratitude.