TAKE IT FOR GRANTED

We were inches away from some of the most beautiful landscape in the country. Only a thin layer of steel and aluminum separating us, but no one seemed to care. The repetition and grind had caused everyone to take it for granted.

It was dark, but is was morning. Everyone of us were either engrossed in our smart phones, thumbs flailing, or had our heads leaned back, eyes closed. Some praying for sleep.

I’ve been in those seats so often that I too wandered in to be herded like cattle onto the commercial jet. Inevitably, someone, usually a kid, will push up the plastic window blind to take a peek at the world.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the seat like the rest of the zombies.

As we taxied toward the runway not a single window blind was lifted. Including mine. Even when we blasted down the runway the vampires still rested their eyes. Until the teenage girl with pink nail polish in the seat in front of me cracked her blind.

take it for granted

image courtesy of photo bucket.com

The light brought my eyelids to attention… my mind too. There we were; a hop, skip, and a jump from the Pacific and the perfect view of it, and all of us had made that trip so often that none of us paid attention to it.

We take our gifts and privileges for granted; including the girl in front of me. Before we got half way down the runway, she closed her blind. That’s when I opened mine.

I’ve made that trip so may times in my life there’s no way I could count the number, but that doesn’t mean I should take it for granted.

This freewill can lull us to sleep, literally, physically, and spiritually. We get used to discarding gifts like little kids. The things we once longed for sit collecting dust or end up in the give-away bag.

We tend to do the same things with the gifts of our senses. We get so used to seeing, smelling, tasting, and hearing our gifts that they lose the appeal and awe they once had.

I hoisted the shade and looked at the massive ocean. I studied it like I hadn’t in decades. It was amazing. I sat in awe of the water and the clouds that hung like angelic pillows in the blue heavens. I marveled at the city and the organized society that has spread eastward up the expansive mountains.

We take so much for granted; the majestic mountains and expansive seas. The seasons that bring snow and rain to the earth that help sustain life. The sunrise and the sunset… and each and every breath.

We turn out backs and eyes to a device that has pictures of what we’re passing through… “-Foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see-“.

Look around. Count every blessing and don’t take it for granted.