Gratitude in obscure places

There are so many things I'm grateful for, some obvious, some obscure.  The obscure are those things that happen over the course of the day that are so natural that we often tend to take them for granted.  If we aren't looking out for them, we may miss them entirely.  Some of the obscure and often overlooked blessings I'm grateful for are:

1) My eyesight. I live everyday with color, bright, vivid color.  I know the sun not only by the feel on my face but by its light, illuminating my world.

2) Strength to get up in the morning.  There have been periods of my life when I was bedridden and helpless.  I know the sensation of strength returning to my body and of finally having it restored.  I know the joy of being able to do even the simplest things for myself and those I love.

3)Food and clean water.  I consume it everyday, throughout the day, as a matter of course. It makes my life possible.  I have never known the want of it.

4)Oxygen.  I have seen the struggle for breath in others and then, thanks to medication, lungs relax and the air slowly begin to flow more and more freely, as if life was being given back to them, and it was.  To take deep, free, breaths of air is a gift given to most of us every second of every day.

5)A smile, a kindness.  Some days these occur more often than on others.  Whenever and wherever they happen, they are reminders that there is goodness is this world, and that this life is still worth living.

I thank my Heavenly Father for my sight, strength, the daily necessities of life and this life worth living.