{"id":1130,"date":"2016-08-19T19:20:17","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T23:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cuppacoldwater.wordpress.com\/?p=1130"},"modified":"2017-04-04T16:39:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T20:39:28","slug":"how-gratitude-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=1130","title":{"rendered":"How Gratitude Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_7492\"<\/p>\n

Gratitude is a funny thing. Contrary to how it seems it should be, it seems that the more luxuries a person has, the less thankfulness comes with them. There are many stories already written about this subject, about poor people dressed in rags who were as happy as could be, and kings slouching sullenly in their wealth-encrusted palaces. However, gratitude is a subject people can always stand to hear more of, am I right? The following stories are not about kings and paupers, but rather, things that happened to me to make me more grateful than usual.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One night in Mexico on our bus trip, we were so very hot and sweaty and miserable. We hadn’t found a good place to shower for several days, if I recall correctly, and the mosquitoes were bad and the smell was probably worse. We tried to park our bus at a gas station for the night, but were turned away by the owner, so we drove a little farther and found a place that would let us stay. And oh, wonder of wonders, this place had a SHOWER! It didn’t look like much- just a gray cement cubicle with a shower head protruding from the middle of the ceiling, but let me tell you what, it was heavenly<\/em>. Tepid water poured from the huge shower head, just the right temperature from sitting in its rooftop tank to cool us down without being miserably cold, and gushing in such large quantities one could hardly breathe underneath it. We were refreshed, body and soul, and that night we slept well. To this day, that counts as the best shower I have ever had.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’ve been living in a downtown apartment, as you know, which is lovely, as you also know. What was less lovely is that the kitchen came equipped with one. whole. drawer. Who even does that? We merrily stuffed the one drawer with all the necessary drawer equipment, until not too long ago, when my\u00a0roommate<\/a>\u00a0had the brilliant idea to put a dresser in a corner of the kitchen, and now we have SEVEN drawers! Luxury, I say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we first moved back to Erandique, we had about 2 little pickups full of our belongings, including our furniture. Obviously, that didn’t leave much room for such frivolities as couches and bread knives and mirrors. We sat on a bed in the living room, cut our bread with a machete, and looked at ourselves in kettle lids. But then one day we stumbled across something in our trash-filled courtyard. Pieces of a broken mirror! We were delighted, because after all, kettle lids don’t give the\u00a0best<\/em> self-impression. As Sharon put it, and as we quoted for many months after, “We are SO RICH!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After using an iPhone with a smashed screen for months, switching to one with just one crack across the screen is such luxury. I can read my crossword puzzle clues again! My fingers don’t get caught in the web of cracks when I scroll down! On a completely unrelated note, anybody wanna buy an old iPhone with a cracked screen? (Subtlety is my strong point.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So there you have it- a few small things that just made my day. Tell me about you; what seemingly insignificant things stand out in your memory as being big causes for gratitude?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gratitude is a funny thing. Contrary to how it seems it should be, it seems that the more luxuries a person has, the less thankfulness comes with them. There are many stories already written about this subject, about poor people dressed in rags who were as happy as could be, and kings slouching sullenly in their wealth-encrusted palaces. However, gratitude is a subject people can always stand to hear more of, am I right? The following stories are not about…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8A8kG-ie","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6815,"url":"https:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=6815","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":0},"title":"12 Ways to Enjoy Autumn","author":"Rachel","date":"September 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Take a day to unpack your warm clothes from storage. Wash the ones that smell, and fill your closet with the others. Do some outfit idea pictures, since the clothes will feel new and exciting from being in storage, then you can refer to these once you are tired of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=91"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pexels-photo-267313.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pexels-photo-267313.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pexels-photo-267313.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pexels-photo-267313.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pexels-photo-267313.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2669,"url":"https:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=2669","url_meta":{"origin":1130,"position":1},"title":"On Looking Forward to Summer","author":"Rachel","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a lot to live up, you know? After so many of you read my\u00a0post about complaining about the weather, I'm just going to have to tackle my rocky relationship with summer head on this year. 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