Appreciate what is for us

There are times when we really wish we could have the thing that we don't own at the moment. That's normal because we are human beings; we have desires. When we see our neighbor buy a new car, we want to have that kind of car too, or even a more expensive car. When we see our friend get a better job than us, we want that job too. When we get a free doughnut with vanilla topping while our friend gets one with chocolate topping, we take that doughnut with the chocolate topping from our friend because we don't like vanilla. We don't even care whether our friend likes vanilla or not. How selfish we are. How immature we are. Therefore, it's time to start to appreciate what is for us and what we have.

Let's learn from a chicken. In its normally healthy condition, it will eat the grain that we usually give. After it feels full, it will stop eating. That chicken never looks so busy to prepare stocks of grain for it when it feels hungry later. I have three roosters and three hens at home. The food for the roosters is a special chicken feed, while the hens eat a mixture of leftover rice and bran. If I check from their menus, the chicken feed is much more nutritious than the rice and bran mixture. However, I never see those hens interested in eating the chicken feed given for the roosters. The roosters also focus on eating the chicken feed. If I give some chicken feed to the hens, they actually eat it. But those hens never try to eat from the place for the roosters. Those roosters and hens really appreciate their present moment.

We human can do that too. If we can appreciate the present moment, we can also appreciate what is for us and what we have. If at the present moment we are drinking, please appreciate that our mouth  can still open to let the water in. Some others may have a difficulty opening the mouth. If at the present moment we are still cleaning the house, appreciate that we can still live in a house. There are many homeless people out there who don't have a house to clean. If at the present moment we are thinking hard about a solution to a problem, appreciate that moment, because there are some people who cannot use their brain properly.