” To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kindness that stands behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”

— Albert Schweitzer

As I sit and eat my daily oatmeal — my routine breakfast since taking control of my diet and keeping diabetes at bay — I think about gratitude.  I remember fondly a lifetime of french toast and waffles and pancakes and other syrupy treats that delighted my palate and started the day with something sweet.  Now I have oatmeal.  Without sugar.  For sweetness I add some berries or peaches, frozen last summer at the peak of their freshness, and they make the oatmeal a bit more exciting than it would be without their addition.  I suppose I could spend the rest of my life longing for the good old days of mega-breakfast.  After all, it was my favorite meal of the day.  Instead, I have made a choice to embrace the oatmeal that nourishes my body and keeps it healthy.  I am grateful for oatmeal, every single day, because it is a key to maintaining my health.  I am grateful for the sense of gratitude I’ve learned to bring to my limited daily menu, because it extends far beyond the meal of the day and expresses my gratitude for being alive.  Alive and healthy is a good combination; and so I am grateful for oatmeal.

I suppose I could be angry and feel entitled to maple syrup and carbohydrate-laden breakfast pastries.  Entitlement is the opposite of gratitude.  I could spend my days whining about all the things I don’t have and miss the enjoyment of the ones that are mine.  When we think that the world owes us everything, how can we ever be satisfied that we are given something?  It is seeking out the kindness that motivates the arrival of good things in our lives that nourishes our gratitude and lets it grow until it overflows.

When we expect nothing and something good comes our way, we call it a surprise.  People who suffer from entitlement never experience the joy of surprises; because, in the end, they feel that they were owed the good thing that came their way.  Where is the joy in that?  Yesterday the UPS man came to my door with a box.  I couldn’t remember ordering anything that would require delivery, so I was surprised to find him at my house.  The box was addressed to me, and the return address was one of an online friend.  Now I was becoming curious!  When I opened the box, I was met with a colorful bag that proclaimed, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”  It arrived two days early, so I really was taken off-guard.  What poured out of the bag, amid glitter and confetti, was an array of thoughtful gifts from a group of online sisters I’ve never met except through our sharing and correspondence.  My eyes welled with happy tears as my gratitude overflowed.  I had no idea that such a surprise would be part of my birthday celebration this year.  I will enjoy the gifts for what they are; but more than that, I will enjoy the warm feeling of the kindness and love that motivated my friends to remember me and send something tangible as an expression of their love.  Gratitude is a wonderful thing.  When it is the choice we make for greeting the surprises in our lives, we never feel disappointed over what we do not receive.  Instead, we feel blessed by the good things that do come our way.  I didn’t expect this wonderful surprise, but the kindness behind it convinced me that I was deserving of its arrival.  And I am grateful.

If we cultivate kindness toward others and a sense of gratitude in ourselves, for the little things as well as the big ones, our joy can be constant.  I am grateful for my morning oatmeal which has taught me some things about gratitude; and I am grateful for surprises that cause it to overflow.