The first thing I hear is the air blowing from the furnace. I could be annoyed that it woke me up but I choose to be comforted by this familiar sound that my body expects to hear. So much that it barely alerts me to its presence. I follow the sound in my imagination through the maze of metal ducts hidden in the walls and floors to the furnace. A metal box of ingenuity that facilitates life as we know it in this cold climate. I imagine all the people who with genius and perseverance tested ideas and came up with the safety mechanisms to allow heat to be brought inside homes and the magic that allows the whole thing to be controlled automatically. Reliably coming on just before I need to slide myself out from under my duvet. Patiently warming the house for my arrival. This metal box tucked away in an unfinished room in the basement should really have a place of glory. It is one of those miracles that we may take for granted. Quietly humming along in the basement doing it’s vitally important job asking nothing but a continuous flow of natural gas to keep me warm and comfortable. Sure, it could be better, more efficient, cleaner, quieter. I bet right this minute someone is dreaming up a better, cleaner, more efficient way for us to heat our homes and that dream will soon become a reality and years from now I won’t hear the hum of a furnace but a heat pump or some other thing that only exists right now in the field of imagination. This is why it is important not to dwell on problems but to keep our minds and hearts focused on possibility. Where we place our attention is where energy flows. Gratitude, love, appreciation grows. That is the purpose of this exercise. Not that I a crazy lady in love with a furnace but that I notice the hidden miracles of life and then I see and experience more miracles.
Gratitude: Hidden Miracles