Gratitude

cozy bed

     Have you ever stopped to consider how fortunate you are to get to crawl into a cozy, soft, blanket-covered bed each night?  Recently, I had a bad, bad "c-o-d-e."  I was achy and unable to breathe at night, so kept awakening, tossing and turning.  I felt miserable.

     Then, I remembered how I used to comfort myself during my nauseated-at-night pregnancy days.  I used to think about women in places like Calcutta, who sleep on the streets each night, with nary a blanket, pillow or mattress to give them comfort.  They sleep on hard, cobbled pavement.  All night long, they hear the rattle of kicked cans, the clacking of carts; they smell urine and rotting food and vomit.  Perhaps sometimes they are even kicked aside, like human refuse, while they try to sleep.  This is their lot whether they had a meal that day or not, whether they are sick or pregnant or nursing a baby.

mother sleeping on the street

I remembered that thought and considered.  I could be sleeping under those conditions with my petty little head cold, and how would that feel?

     I snuggled deep into my luscious mattress, pulled the covers up over my shoulders, burrowed my head in the pillow, and took a deep breath of gratitude.  I have a bed.