It was just a bag of Fritos… but oh, how the simple things in life can bring such joy!
Living overseas is an experience, to say the least. Every day is different, full of adventures, unbelievable new insights, incredible culture shock at times – just to name a few. But who would have thought a bag of Fritos would bring me such a sheer sense of joy?
Yes, just a simple bag of Fritos. I was walking in a store today when my eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a bag of Fritos on the shelf. I nearly knocked two people over getting to the shelf. FRITOS! I hadn’t seen a bag since I left the United States three years ago. It had been too long since that corn flavor had melted in my mouth. I grabbed the bag thinking someone else would. All the way to the check stand my mouth was watering. I couldn’t wait to rip that bag open and explore every last morsel.
Actually, I tossed the bag shyly into my basket not wanting anyone to notice my extreme level of excitement and anticipation. As soon as I got it home I literally ripped the package open, threw those familiar corn flavored pieces in my mouth and felt such exhilaration run through my entire body. Oh how much I had taken for granted when I could just pop into my local convenience store and grab a bag.
Too often we take those simple little pleasures in life for granted. The hug of our child as they come home from school, the feel of our lovers hand in ours, the warmth of a blanket, the fast internet connection, the phone that connects us over miles to the ones we care about and the knowledge that we are free.
I live in China currently, so I’ve grown accustom to not always having hot water, though I detest it, slow internet, though they proclaim first world connection and the freedom to search Facebook or Youtube, which is blocked here.
Yes, we westerners take so much for granted until we no longer have it. What if everything we held dear was taken from us in a split second? And yet, that is what is happening in so many subtle ways when we fail to notice the simple little things in life that actually bring us such joy.
We must stop and ask ourselves… “How much am I taking for granted today?” Is it my spouse, my child, my friend, my job, my teacher, my parents, my health, my life?
What if today you woke up and decided to look at life differently, to think about all those little things you take for granted and decided today you wouldn’t. Instead, you consciously decide, I will appreciate the sunrise, the sunset, the moon rise, the stars, the smile on my child’s face, the long commute home that gives me time to be alone and think, my dog that barks as he comes running to me when I walk in the door and looks at me wagging his tail fiercely like I’m the most wonderful person who ever came home.
What if today you just stopped and said thank you for being alive and having just a simple thing like a bag of Fritos? What if today you just decided to be grateful!
Photo Credit
Fritos – some rights reserved by austinboardman on Flickr
Guest Author Bio
K. Jonthan Ogden
Dr. Ogden has a wide breadth of experience stretching from the US Navy as a Chaplain to Corporate America; from the CEO of a nonprofit to most recently a faculty member of The School of Foreign Languages at Beijing Normal University in Zhuhai, China teaching Business Law, International Finance, International Trade, Advertising and English as a second language. Jonathan has presented at many conferences on leadership and personal development. He was a contributing author for the Amazon bestselling book Wake Up…Live the Life You Love. His vision is to inspire and empower people to realize their dreams and achieve them. Jonathan’s career has always centered on people, teaching and mentoring.
You may contact him here: Contact Dr.Ogden
Blog / Website: Writing – It Does A Body Good
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