Every now and then, I come across a page on my Life’s Little Instruction calendar that I want to do more with than just tweet out. Sometimes I like to elaborate with a paragraph or two. Today is one of those days…

This was today’s Life’s Little Instruction.

This instruction gives us two big nuggets of wisdom:
1. Be happy with what you have.
2. Work for what you want.

I subscribe to the thinking that all of us living in this country hit the lottery. With so much of the world’s population living in poverty, filth, and danger, it goes without saying that we have it pretty good. How did we get so lucky? Why did we get picked to live in a non-third world country?

It seems like I have been asking myself versions of the above questions quite frequently the past several weeks (making today’s instruction speak even more to me). Lately I have been extra mindful of the fact that I get to go to sleep in an actual comfortable bed under a nice roof in a climate controlled room. Many people will never even experience this once in their entire lives.

What makes me even more aware of my luck is that I know I have it pretty good just in terms of others living in the United States. Our country is great but we definitely have way too many people who lack necessities that many others enjoy. Undeservedly, I have it incredibly good. I have a job, I have reliable transportation, I have a family, I have available food. When I take the time to break this down, there is no way I can feel any way other than ecstatic about what I have.

However, just because most of us (I am referring to my blog audience) have it great and can bring ourselves to be happy with what we got, it doesn’t mean we have to be complacent. In my opinion, there is no issue with working one’s tail off to improve and get what it is that we want. As long as we keep the charmed life that many of us enjoy in perspective, working hard to achieve goals is not something we should be ashamed of.

I have always taken heed of the bible verse from Luke that says whomever is given much, much is expected. To me, it is the command for all of us to reach our potential. It is a directive that in order to live our lives to the fullest, we must work hard.

To boil the entire instruction down in a different set of words, I think it is safe to say that we need to be happy but not complacent. We need to recognize on a daily basis everything we have been given but we still need to push ourselves. Never underestimate the power of both gratitude and hard work. Don’t Blink.