How about Buddha's words?

Today I am grateful for my health and for the roof over my head. So many people are struggling with health issues, or have lost their homes to natural disasters. I don't want to take my health or my home for granted. I want to appreciate them today.

That reminds me of my second favorite quote about gratitude. It is attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha. It follows here:

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so let us all be thankful."

That is what I call keeping things in perspective. Successful gratitude practice for me means focusing on what I do have, not lamenting over what I don't have or what I had and lost. This quote captures that and more.

It reminds me of the gift of today. And of the importance of the little things in life that really aren't little things: feeling healthy, learning more, life itself. It reminds me how much better reasonable expectations are for me, versus those unreasonable, "never good enough" expectations that are stealers of sanity and serenity.

I will strive to keep it simple today and remember the blessings that are right in front of me.

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