"Thankful"

In the 1980 movie "The Blue's Brothers", Jake takes Elwood to his apartment.  As they stand outside the apartment, the pictures on the walls start rattling and you see, and hear, a train passing by outside the window.  Once inside Jake says "Well, it ain't much, but it's home". 

Elwood asks "How often does the train go by?" and Jakes replies "So often you won't even notice it".

"So often that you won't even notice it" is great when you have a speeding train that repeatedly passes outside your window. However, it is not so good for other things.  

Our brains are amazing aren't they?  We can tune out repetitive and invasive sounds and events so they don't overwhelm us. But there's a down side to this. Our same brain has the ability to do that for everything.  

Things that we do every day; taking a shower, drinking your first cup of coffee, driving to work, preparing dinner, etc... can easily become those events that happen so often we don't even notice them.  

I aspire to live a grateful and observant life but I know that I can often fall into the "not noticing" mindset.  When I find myself doing this, I stop and make a conscious effort to notice and appreciate everything.  I take a moment to be thankful for all the little details that make up my life.  And what's really amazing is that when I do this, I always find more to be thankful for. 

Blues Brothers Train Scene - Bing video