“No Tootsie Roll? Really?” I thought to myself when Richard handed me the little bag of candy he got when he ordered an effects pedal for his guitar. He orders often from the music equipment company (as you could tell from the stash of gadgets in the recording room downstairs).  When the orders come, there is always a little bag of candy tucked in, as a thank you I suppose. 

The problem with the little treat is that it came every time.  Every time I got a treat of mixed candies, including mints, tootsie rolls, sweet tarts, and the like.  

However this time when it came the candy was not mixed, and didn’t have a tootsie roll!  I’d had a long day so when Richard handed me the bag of candy, I was shocked (shocked, I tell you) to see less variety than usual.  

What?  Fire balls, and one mint?  I was on the verge of being slightly disappointed when it dawned on me that the wonderful company Sweetwater (sweet, get it, like the candy) had made a classic mistake of misjudging human nature.  

Each time, they were kind enough to send a treat, but I had begun to take it for granted.  I had stopped appreciating it and expected it!  It had been an extra, a surprise, a nice thank you, but once I was used to it, the game changed in my mind.  Where’s my tootsie roll?  

Wow! How many times have you done something nice, something extra for someone, then found that they had become ungrateful due to their expectation?  Kids do that to us when they make something special into a ritual.  Friends or family can it for granted that we can be available when they need us, because we have been nice enough to do that in the past.

We live in a day and age that has its challenges, as did every era, but we are truly blessed with opportunities, well being, general good stuff that we have become accustomed to having.  We have running water in our homes, refrigerators, food at the store, friends or family, the breath in our lungs or the strength to walk across a room.  

Sure, we don’t always have all of those things at the same time, but you get the drift.  There is suffering, and there is need, but we still have goodness and blessings every day. When was the last time I spent a day in observation of only the good stuff, and with a mind conscious of the gratitude I should have in response? 

Okay, I want to start immediately, so to you who are reading this, thank you!  You have taken the time to share my thoughts, to give me a voice (in written word) and to honor my observations or ideas.  Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!  God bless you!  

Now I have to get busy making up for the many times I have behaved as though I am “entitled” to anything.  That should only take me, let’s see, ah the rest of my life!