Taken for granted

Often times we take for granted things that we have or things that we can do because quite obviously it has become the routine. For instance, you expect that when you get up in the morning your car will run. Or, even better, because you had food in your cupboard last night, means that your breakfast oatmeal will be available to you this morning. We take for granted our expectations, however in reality, our expectations are our customization to the usual. Because they have become so much of the norm, we can hardly recognize them as a blessing.

You've heard some rendition of a saying that you don't know how good you got it until its gone. While this is not an earth shattering statement, it bares mentioning again. We often don't realize that we are the daily benefactors of a multitude of "expectations" that are truly blessings. Wow...this may sound heavy but here is where I'm coming from. The fact that YOU have the use of your legs to get you out of bed, your dominant hand to brush your teeth, and running water, makes you wonderfully and highly blessed. Here's a wonderful experiment for you: Just take 3 things, any 3 things that you "need" on a daily basis (be very specific) and try to be without those for 1 day...just one day. Be sure to perform all of your regular duties with the same deficiencies.

I am so grateful that I have the returned use of my legs. And just to show you how each minutia of your day is a blessing (and our blessings are too numerous to be counted) ... I can have the full activity and sensation of my limbs, but what if i had no or minimal balance, which is in part my issue today. Well, yes I will have mobility, but it would not be the ultimate level of function I "wanted". I think you will find that there are so many things we take for granted because they are usual and customary. It is so amazing to think of God in His infinite wisdom to the best our brains can conceive to realize that his blessings are so involved and intricate.

When I think of the times we had to make grand rounds to review our stroke patients, a team would consist of a neurologist, neurosurgeon, dietitian, pulmonary rehab therapist, rehab MD, speech therapist, case manager and the nurse. God only needed himself to orchestrate the physical capabilities of his subject which would include balance, strengthening, conditioning, occupational capabilities, etc.

Ultimately, I am attempting to convey that we really need to begin to look at every aspect of our life that the limitations of our mind will allow. Understand that God has blessed us with so many things that we truly take for granted. We need to STOP and reflect on what we can and realize what they are. When we are able to do that, we begin to see our lives, people, and situations in a very different perspective. One which is more spiritual rather than materialistic or as an expectation.

Hope this helps somebody......