It’s not a bad idea to occasionally spend time thinking about things you take for granted.  Plain everyday things.  –Evan Davis

Many years ago, my son and I and were traveling to the great town of Cincinnati. The night before, Duke had won a convincing Final Four game in Indianapolis and we were killing time prior to Duke bringing home their 5th College Basketball National Championship (Rob, would you stop with the gratuitous references to Duke?  You are alienating your readers!)  ANYWAY…It was Easter Sunday and a good friend suggested we go to St. Mary’s Church in the historic Hyde Park District. It was a beautiful, old-school church with an immaculate, white marble interior and ornate stained-glass windows.  But the most impressive part of the church was the music.  The lead singer in the choir had a voice that came straight from heaven.  I am not a music aficionado, but when she hit certain high notes, my son and I would look at each other in awe.  I glanced around the congregation to gauge the reaction to this incredible display of art.  Children were fiddling with their programs. Adults were staring at their shoes.  A few people had fallen asleep.  In short, nobody seemed to care about this miracle happening before their very eyes!  I couldn’t stand it anymore and turned to a young father sitting next me.

“Isn’t she incredible?” I gushed with enthusiasm.

“I guess”, he said with an indifferent shrug.  “She performs here every Sunday.”

Suddenly, it hit me. These people were exposed to this artistic genius every week.  They had become desensitized to the miracle through repetition.  As is often the case, the beauty disappears when we take things for granted.  My son and I were hearing it for the first time and truly appreciated the magnitude of the event.  The rest of the congregation reacted as if every day were Christmas (or, in this case, Easter).

Do We Appreciate the Little Miracles?

How many things in our everyday life do we take for granted? Do we complain that our house is not as big as our neighbor’s or do we appreciate having heat, light, and a warm bed?   In our home life, do we recognize the work it takes to run a household smoothly?  The packed lunches, the rides to practice, the laundry and the cleaning are all tedious but necessary acts to ensure a stable home.  While not as breathtaking as hitting a high note, they are miraculous in their own way.    In our work life, it is easy to complain about the annoying aspects of our job.  These annoyances add up over time and we can fall into a rut.

But how often do we stop to recognize that having a job is a miracle unto itself?  Someone is actually taking a huge leap of faith when they trust us to work at their company.  Do we take this for granted?  Do we appreciate our paycheck or do we complain that the coffee pot is empty (again!)?    There are amazing things happening all around us but most are met with indifference because we take them for granted.

We Need to Open Our Eyes

If we want to lead a resilient life, it is important to recognize and appreciate all the incredible things we currently enjoy. Picture your everyday routine as if you were living it for the very first time.  At one point, your job was thrilling, your children were adorable and your spouse was the center of your world.  Familiarity and repetition tend to rip the magic out of most of the beautiful things in life.   Take the time to recalibrate and recognize that we are all blessed in our own special way.

Nothing should be taken for granted.  There are beautiful moments happening every day in our ordinary lives.  Our heart is still beating.  Our loved ones are still behind us.  And we have so many more incredible miracles to experience.  We just need to look for them.