It’s that same old thing– you never think about something until…it’s not there, or it’s not working right, or it threatens to leave, or it hurts. I mean, do you really spend a lot of time thinking about your mouth? Right now in fact, when was the last time you thought about your mouth– if you don’t have a problem with your teeth, you haven’t thought about your mouth all day. But if you have a toothache, you only think about the pain. And you look back, all the way to…yesterday… when you didn’t think twice about your mouth and life was good. How come you never noticed how good your life was when your mouth wasn’t aching?
I was thinking about that when I was speaking to a young faculty member who said that the last university she taught at, she was always pressured to give As and Bs, grades far above what her students actually deserved. She said that students who couldn’t construct the most simple of speeches were given A-. I thought about all the things I wish I could change at the City University, but pressure to give undeserved grades isn’t on my list of gripes. I didn’t even realize I should be thankful– I didn’t even know what I had, until someone made me realize what life could be like. Half the things I need to be grateful for, I take for granted. Toenails are another example. And I am not being flip– years ago when I ran marathons, one of my toenails, the big one on my right foot, fell off. A guy studying to be a podiatrist told me the toenail would never grow back. I was stunned. I was 26 and couldn’t believe I’d never wear sandals again. It grew back, yet how many times do I ever think about being grateful about my toenails?
I’m just saying, we have so much to be grateful for, we don’t even know half, forget half, a quarter of it.
