Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasures I woke up at 7:30 AM this morning and the first thing I saw was the light coming in my miniblinds this morning and instead of cursing the fact that the sun came up so early and woke me up, I thanked my God because I was able to see the sun and also the mess I had allowed my mind to become. It is too easy to think negatively in our lives. Today, I decided to think of the Blessings I have in my five senses. I awoke and saw the light coming in through my miniblinds. I wondered. How many people awake to darkness. I immediately thought of my friend Javy. He has woken up every morning to darkness. He was not born blind but became blind as when he was a premmie. I think that is the term they use for premature babies. He was put into an incubator and there was too much oxygen put in with him that did damage to his undeveloped eyes. He has never woken to the wonder of sunlight, never known the meaning of a sunrise service. I thanked my God for my sight and went on to think of how Blessed I was.The second thing to hit me this morning was that I could hear the not too distant train about three blocks away rumbling along the tracks and the blasting the horn. I thought to myself, how blessed I was to be able to hear. I again wondered how many people everyday wake up to Silence. I have met people in my journey of life that use sign language to speak and to hear. They have to rely upon flashing lights on their computers to warn them instead of that beep I hear from mine when I make an error typing or put in the wrong command. I think to myself how blessed I am because I can hear. Well, after those two revelations, I was well on my way to finding the blessings of my other three senses. I threw up my window near my computer and instantly the scent of Honeysuckle came wafting into my room. Yet another of the blessings I have taken for granted too much lately. I could smell. I thought to myself how blessed I was because I had escaped from the inner city where smog and pollution had dimmed my sense of smell. Not to mention the traffic and the not so sweet smell of carbon monoxide of the truck directly ahead of me. As I began this message of Simple Pleasures, I realized that I could feel the keys to which my hands were typing. How often we take that sense for granted. How many people suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and have lost that sense? We, who are still able to touch and feel, can take the hand of a loved one and press it against our skin and feel the warmth and the love that is behind that hand. Again, I am overwhelmed by the blessing that is mine. Lastly, the fifth sense. The sense of taste. This is another sense that gets dulled by living in the city with all the pollution. Our sense of taste gets really knocked out of whack. Not to mention, this is the sense we too often take for granted. We can taste food. Not that we do because too often, we are driven in our lives to just inhale our food and gulp down our drinks. We don't taste the fine mixtures of seasonings that we use. It is no wonder that so many people suffer from eating disorders. We do not take the time to properly eat our food. We get too rushed by the passing of time and the time constraints we put on ourselves. Again, I am struck by the many blessings that are mine. Now, take a minute. Even if you do not have all these senses or some of them are still there and have just been taken for granted. Reflect on what you do have instead of what you don't have and be thankful for the Simple Pleasures of life. This is not a chain letter. This is something that I took time to write myself. If you are touched by it, please by all means, use it and pass it on. If, on the other hand, you dislike chain letters and would just rather keep this to yourself, that is just as fine. I do hope, in either case, it might help in thinking from another perspective.Yours always,Robert