All The Things I’m Thankful For

My eyes open every morning at 5am, just like clockwork. They’re open now. They don’t care that this is Saturday morning and there’s no need to get up.

I am annoyed. I trained myself to wake at 5am every morning when I was out in the work world, so why can’t I train myself to sleep late now?

It’s my darn eyes. They have a mind of their own. They have worked closely with my inner clock for decades making executive decisions like how long I should stay awake at night and what time I should rise. And this morning this stubborn team (eyeballs and inner clock) are at it again.

I frown and rationalize. There are a hundred reasons why I should be able to sleep to 8 or 9am on a Saturday morning. This early waking is ridiculous. It’s annoying. It’s for the birds.

And then my eyes open even wider, and I am suddenly, overwhelmingly thankful. My brain works. I can think. I can rationalize!

I smile at that and reach for my remote. When I press the button, I am thankful for a triple blessing: my thumb works, my television works, and my power bill is paid (at least for now) so that I can watch I Love Lucy again (the one where Lucy tells Ricky she’s having a baby. FYI, that episode happened over 60 years ago, I’ve seen it at least a hundred times and I still cry. Smh!)

I snuggle deeper under my electric blanket, and I am thankful. It has 10 levels that make it possible for me to sleep cool, sleep toasty warm, or bake myself like a pie if I want. Plus, I’m thankful that even though I don’t have a significant other to snuggle under, my blanket is the next best thing: it’s warm, it’s strong, and it’s definitely the silent type. Just the way I like my men.

But I digress.

I rise with a little sigh and pad down my quiet hallway toward my bathroom, thankful as I realize I have just slept another night through, undisturbed, safe and sound and whole.

When I flush my toilet, I thank God my water is still on. It was 8 degrees last night!

When I open my refrigerator for fresh spring water to take back to my bed, I am thankful for all the food inside, waiting to be cooked. (Whether I will actually cook it is another matter; I’m notorious for going without eating).

When I put on the coffee and wait for it to brew, I thank God for the sense of smell…and for the fact that this coffee is going to be good to the last drop. Yes, it’s Maxwell House.

What’s this post about? It’s about realizing that I have a lot to be thankful for. It’s about being thankful for God’s abundance, thankful for His protection, and thankful that He let me wake up one more day, because that means I have one more day to get it right.

And one great way to get it right is to be thankful for my eyes. Yep, the very same eyes that woke me up way too early this morning.

I’m thankful because my eyes can see and they can see: They see all the visible things around me (sure, I need glasses, but who doesn’t???) and they can even see things that aren’t visible, but are there just the same…like all the things to be thankful for.

Best wishes for a thankful day!

Rita Lorraine