You’ve probably experienced this.

You’ve gotten a late start on your day and you just want to shovel down some food so your vitamins don’t eat away your stomach lining or because you know you won’t have a break until lunchtime and you just don’t want to run out of gas.

….And in your state, you push your toast (or bagel) over the edge of your counter. Small miracle. It lands buttered side up (or cream cheese side UP).

You pick it up, unenthusiastically blow at the bottom (remembering the last time you swept the floor) and continue with your morning routine.

Isn’t it amazing how often things land buttered side up?

Now, I’m not one to promote a Pollyanna-ish attitude of gratitude. I don’t believe in acknowledging a blessing you are supposed to feel according to someone else’s standards.

I absolutely hate it when someone tries to cheer you up by pointing out that you SHOULD feel grateful because you have it so much better than an orphaned leper working in a sweatshop in Haiti.

Like the old quip about a restaurant patron, after bemoaning that his meal was tough and tasteless, adding the complaint “and they serve such small portions, too…”

Some people don’t seem to see the wonder in WHAT IS!

I think it’s worth recognizing that while some things don’t turn out the way you might have wanted, so many things work out, or work out well enough.

There are so many things already present in life worthy of appreciation.

A friend of mine once sent me a cartoon. It depicted a lingerie-clad woman, significantly past the blush of youth, lounging on a divan sipping a glass of champagne.   The caption:

I’ve been lucky in love! None of my bad relationships worked out!

I try to take time occasionally to give a shout out to things that have gone OKAY. (And OKAY is GOOD).

• Just the other day, I found my car key in the most unlikely of places – on the bathroom vanity (must have been in a hurry to pee when I got home from an errand).
• I had the right hardware in my seldom-used toolbox when I finally decided to hang my framed mandala over my mantel.
• My cellphone didn’t run out of juice when I needed it even though I forgot to charge it the night before.
• Last week, I watched happily when a drop of salad dressing missed my shirt and fell onto the napkin covering my lap.
• I went out to dinner with my gal pals recently and we all had exact cash for our portion of the tab!

Not dramatic perhaps, but worth noticing.

It’s also worth considering that ENOUGH or ACCEPTABLE is OKAY.

Not that we wouldn’t welcome standout moments, but it’s too easy to forget how so many things in our lives are working.

Appreciating the ADEQUATE is no small thing.