Ronald McDonald House; Gratitude

Yesterday, I partnered with a good friend of mine on this great cause and helped to fill 47 lunch totes with a sandwich, a bag of chips, a snack, and something to drink for the child whose family is being assisted by the Ronald McDonald House in Miami, Florida. Today, we went to deliver those totes. It was wonderful to deliver 47 totes to 31 families, which means there were extra totes! It was a very inspirational experience and I'm grateful to have had the time to spare to help in any way that I could.

That's what I want to discuss: gratitude. The families that reside here have a child that is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital. They stay temporarily so that they can be near the treatment, and, in some cases, have a place to sleep while the child is admitted. We were able to meet a few of the children receiving treatment while we were delivering the totes. We would have liked to put more into the totes, but each child or family representative wore a large smile and expressed their gratitude.

Be grateful for the small things. A phone call, a smile, a wave, whatever. I keep a "blessings jar" in my living room (I bought it from a dollar store and wrote "blessings" on it with permanent marker; nothing fancy). When something random happens to me (something outrageously awesome!), I write it down, fold it up, and place it in my jar. When I'm having trouble finding something in my life to be grateful for, I go back and read some of the blessings! Try it. I guarantee we have more to be grateful for than we realize.