Take Nothing for Granted

During these past few months, I have learned many valuable lessons, but perhaps one of the most simple yet piercing is the notion of taking nothing for granted. Every day, we all move through our lives and spend precious little time thinking about how some of the most basic things make our life rich and pleasurable. Here's a few examples:

Do you ever stop to think about just how wonderful food tastes and what a gift that is? If you've had to fast for a few days because of medical tests, or you've been nauseous, there is a moment when something as simple as a blackberry or a warm piece of freshly toasted bread enters your mouth and tastes amazing. I'll never take the ability to savor food for granted again.

What about energy? Like most of you, I never even gave a thought to conserving my energy. I simply went where I wanted, when I wanted, as often as I wanted. I hiked, walked the dog, exercised, shopped, spent a night out on the town or cleaned the house without giving it a thought. I'll never again take for granted the ability for my body to have boundless energy at the ready for me to use.

Do you take the time to notice the beauty all around? Do you stop to breathe in the fresh air? Observe the cobalt blue sky? Hear the birds singing or the breeze rustling the trees? Admittedly, I was always in such a hurry that I didn't always appreciate the incredible beauty of the earth even right out side my front door. Now, the mountains that lay just beyond my house are a formidable reminder to me to stop and appreciate all of God's handiwork.

In no way do I mean to be preachy about this. I'm just saying that there is joy there for the taking if you're willing to look!