It has been some time since I have written an Inspirational Blog, and I find myself missing the joy I get out of doing it.  So, on this day, I committed myself to slow down and take the time to write again.  I was thinking of what I would write, knowing that like the Joyful Journey seminar I often present, that it would invariably be about gratitude in the present moment in one form, or another.

I went outside to enjoy the crispness and chill of a November autumn Sunday morning, and watched my wife and dog Holly, (also known as the “Legal Beagle”), playing in the yard.  I love these ladies very much and am so grateful for their love of me. I pondered; this is surely a thing to be grateful for in many profound ways.  Perhaps I would write about that and how it made me feel.

A win, win for us all at the Bianchi household! LOL

I went back inside and immediately felt the warmth of our heated home and immediately thought out loud, “Wow, it’s nice to have heat.”  Because my mind was focused on writing the blog and things to be grateful for, it was in an instant I decided to write of a more overlooked aspect of most of our lives, heated homes.

It is such a basic thing to many of us to live in heated homes.  Yet, we know many who unfortunately do not know this basic necessity. And, many don’t know it in the form that we do.  For most of us, a heated home is such a common thing, it happens on its own, to our liking, and requires such little effort. It is no wonder we take out heated homes for granted.

It never ceases to amaze me at what there is to be grateful for when I point my mind to the present moment and ponder something taken for granted.  Instead of thoughts of my past, or future, it is at the centering of my mind in the present that always makes me reflect upon a thing overlooked with happiness when I orientate my consciousness in this way.

A heated home is one of those things.  Let’s be honest, we really don’t think about the heat in our homes much, I suspect until something goes wrong.  And by that time, you are mad that something went wrong.

So today, I am taking the day to reflect more upon my heated home.  And, it has inspired me to get to those filters and to clean them and do the basic maintenance that will avert my being upset when something goes wrong because I failed to appreciate my furnace.

So, I want to thank my furnace for the heat it provides.  It keeps my family well, safe and secure.  Especially, the loves of my life- my wife and the Legal Beagle who will be enjoying some of our house’s heat as soon as they are done playing in the yard.

I suspect that when I clean the filters today (which I had no intention of doing today), I will not view it is a chore.  Rather, I will shower thankfulness upon my furnace for all of the comfort it provides with little recognition or fanfare. I will be grateful that I am making my furnace happy and healthy by cleaning it.

Bob Bianchi’s Joyful Journey Program has been given to audiences internationally and in the US.  The lecture has reached varied audiences including attorneys, Bar Associations, college students, college administrators, business groups, drug treatment centers, to name a few.

Robert A. Bianchi, Esq © 2019