Be grateful

It looks like that refund I was supposed to get won't be arriving any time soon, if at all, so now I need to decide which of the extra things that I need to do will get done first, and which can wait. I think I'll get the oil changed on my car first. Next, probably ordering printer ink. I have no idea how much I have left, but I'm pretty sure I have enough for a while. I need to get my sewing machine taken care of. Shingles shot, which I've been putting off. Maybe upgrade my passport so I can travel overseas to see my daughter and my grandbabies. Maybe get new glasses. Kind of down on the bottom of the list since I think mine will do for a while longer. I could use some more batting once I get the sewing machine taken care of. Maybe get my hair cut. I like the style, but it's getting a little long.

And why am I telling all of Facebook about this? Maybe it's just a little proof that with all the absolute craziness going on in the world, life still goes on. Little things in little lives matter. I am grateful for my little life. I'm not trying to crowd into a train with my children and my pets, trying desperately to flee a war-torn country with bombs falling all around me. I'm not living under a bridge, trying to stay warm. I have food in the fridge and a roof over my head. I have family and friends who love me. I can see. I can hear. I can feel.

Does my little life matter, in the grand scheme of things? I believe it does. Not because I'm important, because I'm not. My life matters because my life touches other lives. It is up to me to make sure that when I touch another life, it's for good and not for evil. I have no idea if my smile matters to another. Or if I compliment someone that it just makes their day. Or the little act of holding a door open for someone, or letting someone go ahead of me in the grocery checkout line is the one tiny random act of kindness that makes a person know others can be kind when they've had a horrible day.

Be grateful for your little life. Be grateful for your job, for your roof, for your food. Be grateful for your coat, and give that second coat you're not using to someone who needs it. Be grateful you have a car, even though gas prices are through the roof. Be grateful for doctor bills, because it means you have access to health care. Be grateful that for all the problems we have in this country, we can still live in peace with each other, if we choose to.