grateful

24 hour fitness is my destination on mondays. it’s the one place i can drop everything. my mind wanders as i listen to music. sometimes i’ll play a few sermons on the pod if i’m in the mood. mostly i just run and run and run and lift and lift and lift and then when i’m sucking air i grab a ball and shoot a bit to wind down. and that’s usually the routine. burn some steam off; lose myself for a while. today, however, was not like other days. today, i kept getting interrupted by miss lillian. yes, my daughter comes with me. she plays in the children’s club house while i get to burn off some calories. normally she’ll play without any problems but not today. she cried every ten minutes for me. every ten minutes my name got called over the system: “J.C., please come to the children’s club house”… in other words, your kid’s a mess so can you come take care of her so that she doesn’t cause all the other kids to suddenly want their parents. so this went on for about an hour and finally i just said enough and decided to call it a day. as i was getting my stuff out of my locker a young guy walked into the locker  rm. with no arms. seeing him struggle to get a pad lock on and off his locker made me realize that my problems really have no business being in the category of “my life sucks.” in reality, my life is great.

as lillian and i were making our way out of the children’s care area and into the main lobby, i glanced back at the equipment and shook my head in amazement. the guy with no arms had swim gear on and was headed for the pool. the freaking pool. not sure how you swim with no ability to use your arms. maybe you use other equipment to help guide your body. it really doesn’t matter because what god gave to me was the ability to see that even if crap happens; even when you think you’re entitled to so much more the reality is that you make do with what you have and you enjoy it…

perspective, right? right.

i don’t know what switches you from bitter to grateful but for me it’s when i stop staring at what i don’t have and focus more on what i know is true or what i do have:

that i have my health. that i’m married to a gorgeous and totally supportive wife. that i’m a dad and can sweep my baby girl off her feet and lavishly kiss her and tell her i love her. that i’ve got a roof over my head. food to eat. that i’m educated. that i can use my head and learn something new about the world around me and the god i worship each day. that i live in a community where people’s hearts are valued more than their wallets. that i have friends and family close by when i need them during tough times. that i have christ. that i have eternal hope.

grateful today.