Last night I blew a fuse, of course it was the fuse that powered my stove, refrigerator and microwave. Basically, the entire kitchen. The building that I live in is a little old and I had to wait until this morning before they could come and change the fuse. At first I started to panic, because that is what I would normally do. However I had to take a moment and be thankful for what I had.
While there was no power in one room of the house. There was power in every other room of the house. And since it was below zero outside, the loss of power did not affect my heat in any way. Because it was below zero, I was able to put some of my items from the freezer on my balcony (the ice cream of course!) because priorities. To make a long story short, the blown fuse in one room did not affect anything else.
What I had to stop and remember was that I was warm. A blessing. I had power and lights in all of the other rooms of the house. A blessing. I had already eaten and it was late, so there really was nothing left to do but go to bed. Blessed with food and a bed, double blessing. I am also in a position to replace anything that went bad in the refrigerator or freezer. Another blessing.
I had to think of my priorities. In a city where I frequently see people living under the bridges and where I know people are living exposed to these deadly elements, I had to check myself about being frustrated about a blown fuse. In this life, one thing is for sure and that is that you will have some uncertainties and things will happen both good and bad. The key to navigating this life is being thankful for what you have.
The lesson I learned was a powerful one. Well I would say that there are multiple lessons learned. The first and most important one was to be thankful for what I have. Food, shelter, health, strength, activity of my limbs. I have a great deal to be thankful for. I also learned to not take anything for granted. I almost short circuited over a fuse, while it was not worth, the frustration it would have caused me. I had to be reminded to roll with the punches and to allow the cards to fall as the may.
I didn’t lose anything. All of the food was spared. Nothing spoiled or was ruined in the process. The ice cream survived a night on the balcony. I still have more than enough food, I have a place called home and everything is in working order. There are times when I too, lose focus on what is really important and have to readjust my thinking to understand that I have so many things to be thankful for.
During this season of giving and during this time of perpetual hope, it is the things that we often take for granted that offer us the biggest blessings. Let me, no let us never forget to be thankful for the things we have no matter how big or how small. In our over commercialized society, it is the little things that matter, not the things we can buy or purchase. The greatest gifts we can offer are normally our time and attention as opposed to something you can buy. Remember over all to be thankful for what you have.
Be Blessed! Be Fabulous! Be Thankful!
This Single Sole 