Taking things for granted

We never appreciate what we have until we lose it, but I think everyone knows that. We’ve all dealt with a nasty cold, lying in bed thinking “I just can’t wait to be able to breath out my nose again”, praying for time to pass and for things to get back to normal. That’s definitely the case for a lot of people right now, including myself. Who would have thought that we’d be thinking that way about going to a coffee shop or a park though?

Since I’ve been eating, sleeping, working, and entertaining myself all from the same 13x13 foot room, I’ve had some time to really yearn for and think about how great it is to spend time around other people. Something as simple as seeing my coworkers or a little bit of small talk with someone at the grocery store has become something I really crave and miss. Because of all the thoughts circling around in my head about how much I took the world for granted, I decided to set up recurring calendar events to make sure I sit down and appreciate how nice it is to have the freedom and social interactions that I miss so much currently.

I set up a calendar event to occur ever other week reminding me to take a second and appreciate what I currently have, whether that be freedom, health, or family. It might seem weird to schedule time to reflect, but I personally need to be forced to remember by a calendar. I chose to space this out to every other week so that it doesn’t become too much of a habit that it becomes mindless, and two weeks seemed to work well since our lives are usually focused around a single week schedule, and I seem to be pretty bad at getting into habits that occur on a biweekly basis (after all these years, I still never remember if I get payed the current week or the next).

Things aren’t back to normal yet, but we’re getting there. Even now, I’ve been able to spend time on the weekends with some friends and on the drive home, I make sure to really just appreciate being able to do that. As we build routines in our lives, excitement leaves. Routines are by no means a bad thing though, but we just need to make sure to still observe that excitement and/or appreciate what routine entails.

The main reason I’m writing this is a way to force myself to articulate what I appreciate and why I appreciate it, as opposed it these thoughts floating aimlessly in my head. Hopefully y’all can also add in some regular appreciation to your own lives as well.