The Things We Take For Granted (as seen in Today's Horse Magazine - October 2018)
The Things We Take For Granted
By Cheyenne Glade Wilson
We all take things for granted. We don’t mean to do it, but somehow it happens. Perhaps it’s human nature that this happens, or it could be this fast-paced life we all are living. In truth, I think it’s because we allow ourselves to do it. We don’t have reason to focus on the little things until they become the mere focus of our existence.
I’m probably more focused on this topic than most because I recently went through a health scare. I’ve been having some trouble with my right eye since January. I’ve been seeing an optometry specialist, but he needed more answers. I went in for a couple of tests for my optic nerve. Unfortunately, I landed myself flat on my back for a few days in excruciating pain because I ended up being in the small percentage of people who don’t do well with a lumbar puncture. It’s been a week since this occurrence and I am still not able to ride for another week or so. I just went through the worst pain I’ve ever endured. I’ll just say that it certainly has left me with a renewed sense of appreciation for all the things I have taken for granted.
I talk a lot about gratitude and I practice it daily. A few years ago, I decided to change my outlook on life by using gratitude as a tool every day and not just when something great happened to me. The results have been nothing short of amazing. I have to say though that I haven’t really whittled down my gratitude into a simple sense as of late. What I mean is that as a cattle rancher I am often grateful for rain, good weather, healthy cattle, etc. As a mom and wife, I am grateful for my guys. I’m grateful for their good health and love. I have much gratitude for them and my family. I’m often focusing my gratitude on current happenings and situations. I haven’t been focused on the gratitude for the things I take for granted daily. I do want to be clear that I’m not taking these things for granted on purpose, but by failing to at least think of them regularly I am truly taking them for granted and I bet you are too. What am I talking about? Well, here’s a list of a few things I recently wasn’t able to do for myself that I never had a second thought about prior:
*Begin able to walk by myself.
*Being able to not have excruciating pain in my head and neck.
*Being able to talk on the phone to a friend.
*Being able to see a sunrise or sunset because I want to.
*Being able to ride whenever I want to.
*Being able to make a meal for my family.
*Being able to do dishes or laundry.
*Being able to lift more than 10 lbs.
The list could go on, but I think you get the idea. When was the last time you thought about how great it is to turn on the faucet and clean water comes out? How about flipping that light switch on knowing what will happen? Think about it for a minute. It’s crazy isn’t it? We all just live our daily lives without much thought of these things. How about texting or snapping a friend a funny picture just to have them send you back a laughing emoji? Maybe you don’t do that, but I bet you have your favorite people that you love to get together with. Do you tell them or show them how much they mean to you? What if they were gone tomorrow? This is truly something to think about seriously.
This is the season of bountiful harvest….Fall. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I think it’s a perfect time to pinpoint the things we have all been taking for granted so we can put more effort into being thankful for them. We can show our gratitude more. I only focused on a few things here. Truly the list could be endless…and I believe it to be unique to each individual. I know I am making my own list and vowing to work on it each day to ensure that I don’t take things for granted just because I didn’t take the time to slow down and focus on the blessings that surround me. I’ll leave you with this final thought: Enjoy the little things for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things!
