In yesterday’s post, I forgot to mention that I accidentally left my phone at home when I hopped on the bus to Grecia.

Did I panic?

For about three seconds, yes!!!

Until I remembered:

• I am in Costa Rica
• The natives here are friendly and helpful
• I know enough Spanish to get by
• My emergency contact numbers are in my wallet
• Nearly everyone else in town has a phone
• I never have needed to use it in town except to call an Uber or connect with a friend

So, I settled right back into my seat, smiled, and thought, “I got this. Everything is A-OK!”

But I never realized

…what a “security blanket” a smartphone has become to me until I found myself without it. That realization was well worth the brief discomfort.

What Else Do We Forget About Until They Go Missing?

So many things:

• The value of a good, nearby, responsive friend
• The irreplaceable loss of  decades’-long relationships with individuals who share our memories/histories from grade school (or earlier) on
• Good health
• Optimistic, confident attitude
• Sensible, responsive, representative government
• Clean, easy-to-access water
• Clean air
• The kindness of strangers
• The ability to walk, talk, think and remain independent
• The true value of our pets
• So many more!

The above list could go on forever, if we really stop to think about it.

What would you add to it?

Forgetting our many blessings is easy to do when we feel beleaguered with day-to-day concerns and to-do lists. But we forget at our own peril.

By consciously remembering, we can reprogram our minds and bodies toward gratitude instead of grating our teeth.

And in this day and age, remembering what to remain grateful for is a viable survival strategy, and a roadmap to getting back on track toward a world steeped in good policies and practices.

Keep remembering all the things you want to experience in the future, and every day do something to help that future arrive.

You got this!