What’s the old song? Count your blessings, name them one by one? How many of us actually do that? Count and name our blessings not generically as in “thank you, Lord, for all my blessings” but as in “thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning, for giving me a sunny day, etc”?

It’s a bit of a hard truth, but there are people in the world who would love to have one of your bad days. For most of us, our bad days still have us with a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs and three meals in our bellies. Most of us don’t have to worry about our kids dying from hunger or preventable diseases.

For those of us who may not always love our jobs, there’s someone who’s been out of work long enough who would do anything for any job. For those who may not always love our families, there are orphans who would love to have people to call family.

I still go back to something I heard once long ago that still resonates with me. If all God did was to die for me and save me from my sins and never did one thing more for me for the rest of my earthly life, that would be enough for an eternity’s worth of praise and thanksgiving. But the truth is that God continues to bless us daily, even if we don’t see it.

Instead of always wanting more and never having enough, the antidote to the rat race and the disease of endless consumerism is gratitude and contentment — thanking God for what you already have and being content with where you are.