“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”
There’s a good chance that many will recognize that classic proverb which perfectly captures how shifting your perspective can completely change your appreciation for what you already have. Point being is that our lives are full of blessings that we sometimes lose sight of when we focus too much on those occasional unfortunate one-offs.
Now when thinking about a smooth segue into this narrative, I found that proverb and another one in several lines in a piece I wrote not that long ago on the power of gratitude. Turns out that those lines were from a book by Nobel Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., specifically a chapter on gratitude. Here’s how the Pitts’ story began:
“A Baptist preacher was driving through a city when he was approached and stopped by two women who begged for a ride. A generous man who found it difficult to turn away from a need, he obliged them. Once inside one of the women produced a knife and stabbed him in the neck. He scrambled out of the car to get away but was tangled in his seatbelt. The women took off anyway and dragged him five blocks while rolling over one of his feet. Finally, one of the women cut the seat belt leaving him on the street burned, gashed with his left foot damaged beyond repair. It had to be amputated.
When he eventually returned to the pulpit, a newspaper depicted him as transcendent and triumphant, hopping about crying joy to the rafters. Know what he said? “I have one leg! Thank you,
God!” Here’s a man made unwhole, incomplete, by an act of useless evil. He ought to be whispering in bitterness. Instead, he’s shouting in gratitude. Thank you, God, for what I no longer have. Thank you for what I still do.”
This takes us a recent sermon by a local church bishop.
To say that the huge congregation was 100% engaged and clinging onto every word by the bishop would understate the fact. However, when he suggested three words to utter to ourselves when we experience a crisis in life, oohs, ahhs, amens and furious notetaking swept the sanctuary. Those words: “Good thing that,” immediately put many of our life crises into perspective. It also underscores the temporariness (i.e., “this too will pass”) of many of those challenges.
One of several examples he offered was if you have a flat tire, say to yourself, “Good thing that I have a spare tire (or an auto).”
Then it hit me.
You see, eight years ago, I crossed a busy street and hit a motorcyclist I never saw coming. Now the “good thing that” is that although badly bruised, the cyclist survived. The other “good thing that” is that I was fully insured with an insurance policy that covered the cost of the lawsuit against me that ensued.
On another level, it was a “good thing that” a woman I’d known somewhat previously, allowed me to take a seat on a bench next to her during an outdoor meeting with a large crowd of people. The “good thing that” is that I got to know an accomplished author as a result, a person of character, strength and resilience. She’s now one of my most trusted friends and confidantes.
Now in the days that followed that bishop’s advice, I applied the “good thing that” principle to past experiences in my life with a greater appreciation. For example, it’s a “good thing that” I never liked the taste of – and was too poor a college student to afford – alcohol.
Well surprise, surprise, surprise readers, as is my modis operandi, during the days afterwards, I posed the “good thing that” principle to several friends and each readily shared their “good thing that” moment.
“I remember driving through a dark tunnel in Washington D.C. one night many years ago,” said one. “Suddenly, I approached a stalled vehicle and at the last second I swerved into the other lane to avoid hitting it. It was a “a good thing that” moment that I saw it and that there were no cars coming towards me in the other lane.”
Said another, “it’s a “good thing that” I’m married to an experienced nurse who recognized danger signs that I was about to experience a serious health problem and got a stubborn me to a hospital.”
Said another, it’s a “good thing that” an ex-girlfriend declined my marriage proposal because the one I ultimately did marry turned out to be the best thing that’s ever happen to me. I understand that my ex-girlfriend is about to divorce her fourth husband.”
Said another as he left the coffee house with a grin on his face, it’s a “good thing that” we have less than three years left with the current president in office.”
Said another, it’s a “good thing that” I got rejected for a job I applied for in an organization that would soon go bankrupt and out of business. Later, I got a much better job.”
Said another, “It’s a good thing that there was an eyewitness to a car accident I was involved in years ago when a teenager on a bike ran into the back of my car, and whose legal counsel claimed that I was at fault. However, they lost their case when the eyewitness disputed their claim.”
Now here’s a short list of “good thing that” recent and year’s ago incidents in my life. After reading my list, take a few minutes to recall a few of your own:
Good thing that…..
…..I ate breakfast in Texas in 2017 before arriving in the city, therefore having no need to eat at my favorite restaurant in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, the site of the “Unite the Right” white supremist rally during which Hether Heyer was killed in the attack.
….. I arrived home safely after a recent long trip to the west coast.
…..I succumbed to the excruciating pain in my abdomen and took myself to a hospital’s emergency room when, minutes later, my appendix burst.
…..I decided not to believe in negative reviews of a restaurant, had dinner there and had an excellent experience.
…. I wasn’t pulled over by the police after having more than a few beers at a wild party years ago in Boston.
…..my phone was fully charged with access to my GPS when I got lost in rural Tennessee.
Okay reader, your turn. Go back as far as your memory will take you to recall those “good thing that” moments. Take as much time as you need.
Hopefully you’ll leave this piece with an understanding that our lives are intertwined and loaded with what could’ve happened but didn’t; those close calls and near misses that may have had unfortunate results that could have changed the trajectory of our lives.
And hopefully too that you’ll close thinking about the circumstances of your own life and reflecting on those “good thing that” moments in your past, apply them to your present life then pivot with this new insight to split second and other decisions you’ll make in your future.
Oh, yes, one more thing before we go. I hope that you’ll say to yourself it’s a “good thing that” I read this narrative and fanned it out to others I know, to read, reflect ….and act on!
Terry Howard is an award-winning writer, a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, TheBlackmarket.com, recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and third place winner of the Georgia Press Award.
