Chapter 5: Gratitude and the world we'll leave behind

Fear, Scarcity and Bad news. The world's going straight to hell if the pandemic called swine flu isn't dealt with.

That's what we hear everyday at least. I remember when my wife was pregnant, and I was working, a client had caught me day dreaming. "What's wrong?" he said "You thinking about money?" Of course I was. I had recently told everyone the good news of my child coming to the world earlier this year so I simply replied with a smile and a nod. He responded with another question: "You want the baby right?" I quickly responded with a resounding yes. "Then don't worry. Money's always gonna be there. You'll find a way." I thought about that for a while that night and have come to discover that I simply don't have time to worry about it, and every time I did start to trip over it, I would immediately start thinking about the things that I was grateful for (i.e. we eat well, the bills are paid, nice clothes, etc and so forth). What I'm getting at is this: thinking consistently of the things you don't have will bring you down. Depression will set in and this is no good for everyone. I know that this way of thinking is not productive.

Now my son is here I have been given a rare gift of being able to see him every day and watching him grow. getting to know him and making him smile. Just by looking at him I can see his eyes full of ambition and discovery. Banneker is just glad to be on the Earth to check this whole experience out. By looking at how blissful he is I know what he's grateful for. He is clothed everyday. He has two loving parents. He's a happy baby and gives a smile to all the ladies that makes them blush (that's a trait I'll take credit for thank you).

Having abundance is not in the number of material items, or the money that's in the bank. Abundance is about taking inventory in what you do have (healthy children, good friends, healthy food, transportation) I mean the list can go on forever, and that's the idea. This will be the one of the first times that I will mention that I am unemployed. I was laid off about six months ago and let me tell you, the first emotion was not fear. I swear to god I almost smiled with gratitude. Hysteria...maybe, but I thought about it for that day ,as I was preparing to leave my pregnant wife to go to Mexico with the boys for one last week of freedom before fatherhood sets in, and all I could think of was: "Wow I can finally do what I want to do. I turned this event of my life into an opportunity not into a pity party, and it's helped me out a lot. That's when I started taking inventory in what I have and now and if I was to pass on into the after life what kind of world will I leave my son. Will I show him that all is lost so just give up now or show him that no matter what you gotta press on and never settle for what you do not want. So to set an example for him I'm starting the creating process to turn my goals into reality. This blog is one of them. So what do you guys think? Healthy optimism or delusional? Give me your thoughts.

And so it is. I am...
L. Jeffery Moore