The other morning, I stepped into a shower of lukewarm shower water.
I turned the dial hotter, trying to get the hot water to come back. In
that moment, I couldn’t imagine anything more precious than hot water.
Soon the water got warmer until I was luxuriating in a perfect
temperature shower. That fixed, I could go on worrying about my day.
But then, it hit me! How come I don’t praise hot water when everyday I
get in the shower and there is lots of it? It was a shame how quick I
was willing to brush over that experience of praying for something and
getting it. It was a good day indeed to start with a hot shower but I
get that everyday. So should I praise every day? I figured that all
too often we only truly appreciate something, I mean really get how
important something is to us, when it’s gone!
I started to wonder, how many times have I missed out on how precious
something is to me because I have TOO MUCH of it! I never appreciated
hot water for what it was until it was in short supply. I wonder if we
can flip that and start to think about all the things that we do have
in abundance and stop looking over them. We don’t appreciate love
until the love is lost. We covet a fancier car until our own car
breaks down. We complain about our job until we loose it. There’s got
to be a better way.
In the book Tears to Triumph: Women Learn to Live Love and Thrive, Dr.
Sharon Herron witnessed the loss of her infant daughter. She mourns
her loss everyday but appreciates every moment that she had with her
child when she was here on earth. Her story has inspired me to think
about what I might miss if I focus too much on what I don’t have. What
blessings or special revelations am I missing by fretting over my
shortfalls and not my windfalls? This summer I ran a youth employment
program for over 200 kids. Ironically, my workers shared with me that
some of the people that really got the true value for the summer
experience were not the ones who were employed but the ones who never
got a job at all.
Today I encourage all of us to think of what we actually do have in
abundance and celebrate it. For you it might be a job, the love of
someone special, a roof over your head or it might be something as
simple but as precious as a little ole’ thing like hot running water.
Please feel free to comment on what you will celebrate today!

