Wake-Up Call

I glance at the clock and feel a wave of gratitude for this rare gift of sleeping in. Just as I start to doze off, a tuck-pointing team lowers a scaffold right outside my 7th floor window. Then, just a few feet from the pillow covering my head, a power grinder roars to life, its sound like a chainsaw screaming.

In that moment, I have a clear choice. I can focus on my dashed expectations, leading to angry condemnation, or I can regenerate the energy of gratitude with which I awoke.

Urban living often brings a cacophony of sleep disruptions: sirens, trash trucks, leaf blowers, and jackhammers. It's easy to launch into a litany of complaints about city ordinances and the officials who enact them.

Or, I can choose gratitude. I can be thankful that my HOA has the resources to maintain our building. I can appreciate that the project creates jobs and strengthens our economy. I can be grateful for the day that lies ahead.

Feel the difference? One approach is life-giving and empowering; the other, draining and negative.

I believe every life experience, no matter how frustrating or even tragic, holds the potential for greater good to arise. This may not be immediately evident, especially in the throes of a negative experience. But the power of infinite good is always present. Centered in this assurance, we're much more likely to find something for which we can be thankful.

So, in the precious instant before reacting, pay exquisite attention to the other choices available. Rest assured, they are infinite. Among them are countless reasons to be thankful.

Be grateful. Generate goodness.