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I have an enduring memory of my father one morning walking over to the thermostat in our new home and turning up the desired room temperature by a few degrees. I was about 7 years old. He remarked on the magic of it and what a wonderful change for the better.

We had just moved from a rented home with a coal furnace. In our earthen basement floor, there was what I call a horse stall with a coal chute that slid to the outdoors. At one time, loose coal was stored there, and later the modern bagged coal slid down the chute.

No more banking the coals for the overnight shift of keeping us warm during a cold winter night. Now a flick of the wrist did it.

This memory recently visited my head as it does occasionally.

I was slogging my way through a book that takes 279 pages to address ideas to grasp the concept of ‘Now.’ I know. I know. I don’t know why I subject myself to such tasks either, but I have no interest in stopping.

It was at the start of a chapter about being very in the moment, very in the ‘Now.’ Your mind is so focused that intuition takes over your thinking as there isn’t time for anything else.  The example offered was the cyclist Danny Macaskill, traversing the Scottish Cuillin mountain ridge. He captured this terrifying ride in a film called “The Ridge.”

I needed a break from the mental challenges this book offered me. I opened my mini-iPad and went to my YouTube app. I searched for the video that was made 12 years earlier. I got it on my first try. I loaded the film and sat back to enjoy the video.

I didn’t know anything about the cyclist, but I remembered seeing a short clip from this video of him riding straight towards a wire fence, hitting it and doing a forward flip over the fence. He landed perfectly and continued on his way. Just another day in his office.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I paused as I try to do daily, to identify things in the moment that I am grateful for.

I set aside my analogue world of a hard-covered book, picked up a digital device to watch a film made 12 years earlier, while sipping my analogue cup of coffee. It was a seamless 7 minutes in two different worlds.

How cool was that? Oops. I’m sounding like my father and his thermostat. I didn’t grow up in the digital era. I’m still in awe of the world around me. I try not to take it for granted while thoughtfully embracing it.

Please give this a bit of a think. What are some everyday things in your life that you didn’t grow up with that you are grateful for?

Please comment: Send me an email with your bit of a think. I am curious about your thoughts.

Photo by Moja Msanii on Unsplash

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