Being Grateful

How often do we complain about minuscule stuff? My morning started off just like any other morning. Hardly anything was going right, and the complaints quickly began to pile up. I woke up to a nagging knee pain, and then, later, I had to go back inside to put on a thicker shirt because it was a bit chillier than normal this morning. By now, I was running late for an important meeting so I reluctantly skipped my routine visit to the coffee shop…and then, it hit me. It was at this very moment when my ‘wiser self’ reminded me of the morning, a couple years ago, when I was working at the Buffalo Veterans Hospital.
As usual, my mornings at the Veterans Hospital started off with me going down to the cafeteria to get my large cup of coffee. This one particular morning would be permanently engrained in my memory because I was in a hurry and I didn’t do my typical ‘sip-test’ after I’d hastily mixed in a little cream and sugar.
When I got into the elevator to return to my work station on the ninth floor, I had a chance to take a test-sip of my coffee and it was just plain awful! Needless to say, I let out a profound ‘f-bomb’ as the others in the elevator turned their heads to me. When we finally reached the ninth floor, the elevator door opened and a wheel-chaired double-amputee cheerfully greeted us with, “Good morning, ladies n’ gents!” as he wheeled himself into the elevator. After seeing this man with no legs, I immediately felt ashamed at myself for complaining about the taste of my coffee.
No, today I’m certainly not perfect and I still sometimes complain about life’s minuscule things. I wish that my ‘wiser self’ would pop up more often to remind me that I truly have nothing really to complain about. Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
- Randolph Randy Camp