gratitude is not just an attitude... it's an art form

i was watching the first season of grey's anatomy [for the nth time, i just put in it while doing something else] the other day and came this thanksgiving episode... meredith went to the hospital on thanksgiving while izzie stayed home preparing dinner. turkey and stuff. [well i dont have to mention what the other doctors were doing. do i?].
"not a big fan of thanksgiving?" bailey asked meredith.

"there's just not much to be thankful of," meredith replied.

then the other day, i came across an old blog of one of the bloggers i follow which he titled "in which i am thankful" which he noted as some sort of a post-thanksgiving blog. later on he diverted his article to what he is thankful not to have... here are two examples:

"i'm thankful that i no longer have a job in retail that requires me to be to work really super early in the morning the day after i eat way too much of a food that makes me exceedingly sleepy..."

and

"i'm thankful that i don't have the gene that makes me turn into a werewolf. that would really cramp my style. i'm sure there would be times where being able to change into a wolf would be cool, but i really just don't like the taste of kibble."

then again, the other day, an old friend of mine woke me up really early with a phone call (ok not so early, it was just that i slept very late that night) which really surprised me because it was charlie, a friend that i havent heard from for about 12 years. according to him, the last thing he heard about me was i was teaching in another university in my area. [in which i was actually a phsyical therapy clinical coordinator]. we talked for more than an hour until his phone battery ran down. the call was from new york... some friends you lose forever... some friends you lose and find again... facebook, man! facebook...

then there was this other day when i went around a department store while waiting for my frends to come. as year is ending, sale items flock most department stores in most cities and town around the planet. i wish i could at least buy that comfy sketchers sneakers which was on sale. 30% off. but im in a transition right now and spending on items on sale is out of the budget. i was learning to prioritize. thank God for transitions...

how are these random stories related? i dunno, you tell me...

except that these the other day events caused me to discover things that i normally overlook as blessings... daily miracles of life, so ordinary... so basic... that i tend to miss to be thankful of. that gratitude goes far beyond our families, and friends, and good job, and the air we breathe. as important as they are, we can actually be grateful about so many things everyday if we take time to ponder on these little things. it's an attitutde. but it's also an art form. an art form of discovering. and art form of discovering the small details of of our lives that makes us more grateful than we already are.

and that in the midst of the transition i am facing, there many small things to be thankful of... so many that i dont have to get into details... except to mention that all these become possible by the grace of God.


so... what are little things that you are grateful of?

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[pictures stolen from flickr.com... sorry]