Am I REALLY thankful?

Two weeks out from my surgery. Had some bumps along the way...but things seem to have evened out a bit. Still know that healing isn't complete. The pain level is still higher than my "normal" pain; but bearable. Sometimes, I think God brings things into my life to increase my pain....so I'll be THANKFUL for my "normal" pain level. LOL 

I think that's true with many things in our lives. We aren't thankful for our daily living....until it changes. When our routines or traditions are interrupted, we than take notice. The old adage: "you don't know what you have until it's taken away", has a ring a truth to it. 

This has me thinking again.....what everyday routines would I miss is I couldn't do them? What has God given me that I take for granted? As Thanksgiving approaches, we often focus on "being thankful". But am I really thankful? Am I thankful for the daily gifts God gives me? Or do I assume that I 'deserve' these things? 

What routine things am I thankful for??? Wow...having milk in my refrigerator. Taking my meds is much easier with milk. Lately, I've been frustrated with my coffee maker...instead of complaining about it, I need to be thankful that I can make a cup of coffee or tea whenever I want one. So it's not the newest or the best...it works and I need to be thankful for that! Especially, when my Mom still boils water in a pan to make her instant.....Yet, she's very thankful for that!! 

I'm thankful for my sofa...so it's 15 years old and the green color is out of style now...but it's where I spend my day. I have a sofa where I can recline all day. It's has plenty of room for me to recline with my pillows. God knew when I bought it 15 years ago, that I'd be spending most of my day on it... So glad He knew which sofa would serve me the best. 

I'm thankful that I can read and for some good books to read. I have my favorites which I read everyday: the Bible, Pain Perplexity and Promotion, Psalms Now. And another book a friend gave me which I'm reading right now: Calm my Anxious Heart (Linda Dillow). 

I'm thankful for my stereo system (a gift from a friend). I can listen to the radio or CDs, and I can change it all without getting up off the sofa....it has a remote! That's important on those "can't move pain days". Guess, I have to add the remote to my thankful list too!! 

I'm thankful for Max, my parakeet. God continually teaches me using Max as an "object lesson". The main lesson God has taught me .....using Max is that God cares about the details! The smallest, tiniest, seemingly unimportant details.....yet, God is concerned and is not only aware, but takes care of those "unimportant" details. 

I think I'll continue this list....last year I kept track of my daily blessings....this year, I think I'll have 365 days of Thankfulness! Each day I'm going to write down something for which I'm thankful! Wow...what a great year it will be.....filled with thankfulness! 2010 will have 8,760 hours; that's 525,600 minutes; that's 31,536,000 seconds! How many of those hours, or minutes, or seconds will I spend thanking God?

Creating a positive day is all about your attitude. Your attitude determines your mindset. "if you think you will be", is true. That's way God says .....'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.' (Philippians 4:8). God knows that what we think about we'll act upon. What are you thinking about today? What attitude will create your day today?