Gratitude for the Ordinary

I found it a little too ironic to be reading an article emailed from Katherine entitled "Gratitude" (about being grateful for the things that don't happen), while the bathroom and kitchen ceilings of my apartment bulged with water from a leak two floors above.  As I ran for more pots to catch the now spewing streams of water, I thought, "Am I supposed to be grateful that there is not a wild animal chasing me around the apartment right now, too??" Or should I just be remembering a happier time - like the 90 other days I've lived here - when there was no leak? 

The article illustrated this type of gratitude with the idea of "Being Grateful for Not Losing Your Wallet." It read: "When I was in college, a friend told me about what he called the 'lost wallet syndrome.' If you lose your wallet, you think, 'If only I would find my wallet, how happy I would be!' You’re overwhelmed at the thought of all the unpleasant consequences of losing your wallet, and to find it, in the wrong pocket of your backpack or slipped behind the sofa, sounds like bliss.

But then you find your wallet, and five minutes later – you’re right back to your usual state. This syndrome applies to medical tests that come back 'normal,' to near-misses on the highway, to trips to the grocery store when a child wanders away unnoticed, to be discovered in the next different aisle."

As I read, I laughed with ashamed agreement, for I have been stricken with this syndrome more times than I'd like to admit.  I knew as I dodged new drips from the ceiling that just as soon as this ordeal was over, I would be on my merry way, nary another thought of, "Gee, I'm so glad there's no leak today!"And without a doubt I would not think of new things to be grateful for not happening, like "Isn't it great that the toilet is not clogged?" or "I'm so happy we do not have loud neighbors."  

I'll fault my in-gratitude to the claim that maybe I'm just too optimistic to dream up all the horrible things that COULD be happening but are not; therefore, making me incapable of being grateful for all the things that don't happen.  But how much happier I would be if I could make myself aware of all the toast that does not burn, all the wallets that are quickly found, all the dogs that do not bark, and all the ceilings that do not leak.