The Things I Call Normal

Sometimes I wonder how many things I experience every day without noticing them.

Was I grateful today for being able to walk?
Probably not. Walking feels normal.
Until I stop and think that somewhere, in this very moment, there is someone who would give anything to take ten steps without help.

Was I grateful today for being able to see?
Probably not. Seeing feels normal.
Until I remember that somewhere, someone would give everything to look at the faces of the people they love.

Was I grateful today for opening a faucet and drinking clean water?
Probably not. It feels normal.
Yet billions of people still do not have reliable access to safe drinking water.

Was I grateful today for having work to do?
Or did I only focus on the alarm clock, the meetings, the stress, the effort of getting through the day?
But wait, more than 400 million globally want a job but don’t currently have one. Even more, about 800 people in the world experience chronic hunger.

The more I think about it, the more I realize something uncomfortable. Many of the things I call normal are privileges I stopped noticing.

And then another thought hits me. In this very moment, there is someone somewhere who would give their whole life to have the problems I have today. Perspective changes everything.

Gratitude does not require my life to be perfect. It only requires me to notice what has quietly become invisible.

Tonight, before I go to sleep, I want to ask myself one question: What did I live today that I treated as ordinary… but is it actually a gift?