The other day my parents and I revisited Cafe Gratitude. Every day they have a “Question of the Day”. On the day we visited, the question was, “What is most extraordinary about you?” My father said, “Well I smile a lot!” and indeed, a winning smile was plastered to his face. A few days after, I contemplated the question and came with an answer: “What is extraordinary about me is that despite all the suffering I’ve seen or heard about, despite my own suffering and inner turmoil, I have not allowed myself to be hardened by those ill feelings and experiences but rather, softened by great love and compassion for all human beings.”

Their tagline is also, “What are you grateful for?” They have merchandise and every plate they have has the words printed on them. I said this once and I’ll say it again, I believe people live unfulfilled because they fail to appreciate or be grateful for all the things around them. Sometimes, when I am consumed by my own grief or depression, I can be one of those people. I fight that by trying to be grateful for something, even if it’s just a little thing. This morning I was grateful for the morning sun. Mornings are my favorite time of day, especially 4AM. I can relax, quietly reflect or be peaceful best at 4AM. Perhaps that is why people choose that time to meditate. I think it is because at 4AM the world, or where I am from at least, is in its most quiet and tranquil state. It’s a seemingly perfect time because it is right between yesterday and today; the weariness of ‘yesterday’ is washed away by the purity of 4AM, and you don’t even yet have to think about ‘tomorrow’. It’s the clean slate between yesterday and today; the here and now of time. So I am grateful for mornings and the morning sun; the smell of coffee or breakfast. I am grateful for good morning hugs, kisses and cuddles. I am especially grateful for that little space in time where I feel as if I and the whole world is harmonized in peace.

There is so much that we can be grateful for if we take the time to look beyond ourselves and instead, inside ourselves and out to the world.

What are you grateful for?