Be Thankful


Today is a new day, you get out of bed, brush your teeth and wash your face, go to the kitchen and make yourself a hot coffee and some toasts, or maybe you go direct to the shower and then get dressed to go to work.
You're on a traffic jam hoping that it doesn't rain because you just washed your car yesterday, calling somebody on the cell phone to let out all your stress and worries, sometimes also to share a very exciting moment of your life, like when you got a new car, or when you bought your first house, or even when you just found at the store that thing you wanted so much at a great price.
During the day you are so busy with all the work at the office that you don't have time to call anybody, but still you manage to take a few minutes to see if you got any messages on your e-mail.
By the end of the day you're very tired. You get home, get a nice shower and have dinner; meanwhile you watch the news to see what's happening on the rest of the world.

Every now and then you argue with people and feel desperate because they don't understand you, and you wonder how they can't see what you see. How is it possible that they do things the way they do? Other times you feel drowned by people and complain that you don't have time for yourself, that you need a "break".

You worry about your appearance; you make sure you look great all the time.

You clean and buy things for "your place" to make it look neat and perfect, and if there is something you don't like you put it away or change it.
You are so busy with so many things that you miss the things that are really important, moments that happen just one time in your life.

Have you ever thought what your life would be if you wake up one day because you're so cold and have no blanket to cover yourself, and go to the fridge and it was empty, that you had to walk to go to work?

Hoping that it doesn't rain because otherwise you would get soaked, that you had no way to communicate with people that are far away from you and share your worries and happy moments.

How it would be if when you got home very tired you had no water to take a shower and had to go to bed hungry because there was no food on the table, and you didn't know what was happening on the rest of the world?

How would you feel if you had nobody to talk to, willing to do anything just to have somebody by your side, and needing to feel the warmth of people around you?

There are so many people around the world, like us, but have nothing and no one, people that have to walk wherever they go, people that would do anything just to have a loaf of bread to eat and some clothes to cover themselves. People that sleep out there under the rain and the only thing they can do is to pray for the rain to go away.
People that don't even understand or know what love is and can't even think of enjoying the good moments if any because their hunger and circumstances don't let them.

And you still think life is unfair to you......

Life is not only about studying and getting degrees and buying great cars and great houses, is not all about getting nice clothes and looking great.
Is about sharing and appreciating people and moments that can happen in a split of a second but can last for the rest of your life.

How many times have you thanked Him because your fridge is full of food? Food that sometimes you don't even eat and end up throwing away.
How many times have you thanked Him for the car you've got?
How many times have you thanked Him for your job? Because even when you don't like it that much you can still buy the things you need...thanks to your job.
How many times have you thanked Him for you health?

How many times have you told somebody that you love him?
How many times have you thanked him for something he did even when he didn't do it the way you do it?
How many times have you made something for somebody out of love, without expecting something in return?
How many times have you gone outside and stared at the light of the sun between the clouds, the sky, the trees and appreciated the wonders of the nature?
How many times have you stopped doing something just to go with that person, your child, your other half, and shared with him for a few minutes, and stared at him, and hugged him with your eyes closed?

How many times have you thanked God for your own life?

Time flies and you don't notice, you take for granted the people that are with you all the time, all the things you've got, things that you don't even need.

Unfortunately you can't stop time nor you can go back in time to fix or change things, and certainly you can't change people.

Many people think and believe that to have a meaningful and purposeful life is to get a career, have a wealthy living and become "somebody" in society, and to complement their life then they think of love and family. They dedicate most of the time to their job and trying to maintain their "good living", and if they have time left and are not too tired they spend time with their loved ones. They concentrate their lives so much in things that are just...material, that at the end of the road they find themselves lonely because they forgot about that special person, because they didn't care enough to appreciate what they had, and the saddest part is that most of the time when those people realize what they have missed, it's too late.

Jobs, houses, cars and everything else play an important part of your life, if you lose them you can still replace them, but if you lose somebody, you can't replace him or his love or the time lost, then you'll only have the memories…

Today when you get home, instead of saying you're tired and going straight to the bedroom, just put everything away and give a kiss and a hug to those you love, instead of complaining of something and pointing at them when they don't do things around the house, look at them and see who they are, appreciate what they do, if you know you hurt somebody let away that pride and say your sorry, forgive them for their mistakes for they're only human, like you. Tonight when you go to bed before going to sleep close your eyes and thank God for the day, because you got home alive, thank Him for everything you have. Tomorrow when you wake up before starting the day kiss again that person next to you even if he's still asleep, if you have kids go and tell them how much you love them and how important they are in your life, they'll appreciate more those few minutes with you knowing that they can count on you than the things you buy to them. During the day take at least one or two minutes to call that special someone just to say hi. Help your friends when they need somebody.

If you would only see the good things and cherish them more and care less about the negative things...life would be so different.

Life is so precious and full of material things, but without those people that share their lives with yours, it's empty.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow, I don't know if today will be the last day I'll see the light, I don't know if I will lose someone I love soon, I don't know If I will live until I'm old and see my grandchildren, all I know is that right now I'm alive and healthy and have people around me that in one way or another care about me and other people that are not with me but think about me, and to all those people I want to let them know that I care about them too, and that I love them. All I know is that right now I want to live my life to the fullest and enjoy every moment I can before is too late.

Sandra Falcon