Reflections

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  1. Robin Ann
    Robin Ann
    3 months ago

    I think not having a cell phone or a computer would drive me crazy. We no longer have land lines.

  2. Ose
    Ose
    3 months ago

    Soap, toilet paper, toothbrush; imagine life without these items… one would not feel well, isn‘t it? 😌

  3. Linda72766
    Linda
    3 months ago

    My computer. I am able to read about anything that suits my fancy, with just a few key strokes. I love reading about people all over the world, playing games and staying in touch with friends and family. I would be lost without it!

  4. Ngoc Nguyen
    Ngoc Nguyen
    3 months ago

    My smartphone. Honestly, it’s not good to admit that I’m addicted to my smartphone. It makes my life super convenient, staying connected with my loved ones, to doing some work on it. Without my phone, my life is active and filled with physical activities. I’m in Vietnam with my family now. My phone connects Loc and me in our daily call. But mostly, my time here is for my 3-month-old nephew. I’m grateful for my phone as well as without it. May you all have a wonderful day!

    1. L
      Loc Tran
      3 months ago

      My Ngoc, it’s much easier to have long distance communication with each other nowadays. As long as both of us are up, have free time, and good wifi connection, we can make it work easily.

  5. C
    Claire Jay
    3 months ago

    Right now, hands down, my coffee 😊

  6. Barb C
    Barb C
    3 months ago

    So many good answers here and all resonate with me (although I’m very glad I can mostly bike or take transit for transportation instead of driving in heavy traffic as Charlie does).

    Right now I have to vote for oven and microwave because we’ve been without both for going on a month. Our new appliances for the remodel were under warranty, fortunately, but it’s been a saga of repair trips, don’t have the part, got the wrong part, setting the clock made the whole thing go dark again, and the saga isn’t finished yet. I got a double oven, microwave on top, oven beneath. For nearly a month if I want something defrosted I have to remember to take it out well in advance the way Mom used to do. I can’t reheat coffee, or I heat it on the stove and it gets bitter. Can’t roast vegetables, bake bread or cookies, fill the house with the smell of good things.

    I’m pretty sure some of this drama is because new appliances are so reliant on technology. We tried to minimize that in our selection but there was no getting away from having a motherboard. My mom baked thousands of delicious cookies without a computer in her oven. Everyday things have been made more complicated with only some gains in utility, and sometimes a loss. (Pickups that are bigger and heavier, kill people faster, and don’t have any additional hauling capacity or even have less come to mind.)

    1. Robin Ann
      Robin Ann
      3 months ago

      So true! I locked my keys in my car once with the windows partially down and could not use a hanger like the old days to unlock. The alarm went off. Then I had to call AAA to stop the alarm. It was such an ordeal!!

    2. Barb C
      Barb C
      3 months ago

      Adding a note–I have my mom’s hand mixer. It’s probably 60+ years old, made by GE, and still runs fine.

      1. Carol Ann Conner
        Carol Ann Conner
        3 months ago

        Sadly, things aren’t made to last these days.

        1. sparrow51014
          sparrow
          3 months ago

          No,
          they’re not,
          dear Carol . . .
          I miss the days of taking my shoes to the cobbler,
          scissors to the grinder,
          and appliances to the repairmen.
          And here we are,
          living in a world of broken appliances
          that can’t be fixed.
          It doesn’t make sense to me . . . ♥

  7. L
    Lauryn
    3 months ago

    My computer. My job would be impossible to do without it. It also allows me to work remotely and connect with my colleagues on a daily basis, even though they are located on the other side of the country.

    1. Ose
      Ose
      3 months ago

      Yes, dear Lauryn, so true!

  8. sparrow51014
    sparrow
    3 months ago

    I can tell you how different my life would be without a toilet,
    because I’ve lived without one,
    having to squat in the woods,
    or finding a public restroom that was clean.
    I graduated to a chemical toilet sans chemicals,
    and am ashamed now
    to say that I cleaned it out in the ocean every day . . .
    it was just the way I lived back then.
    In time
    I graduated to an outhouse,
    which I believe was the last existing one in the town where I lived
    in Maine . . .
    very cold in winter.
    I often used a rusty old coffee can under the kitchen sink
    and would run out to dump it later in the day.

    Now,
    many years later,
    I have a 16″ high potty,
    very nice as a person gets older . . .
    not so far to sit down,
    and believe it or not,
    I was given a bidet attachment at Christmas,
    just for fun.
    So these days
    I’m sitting pretty. 🙂

  9. Mary
    Mary
    3 months ago

    I would say my robe and slippers. These items bring comfort.
    I wear them before the day begins as I drink my tea or coffee and transition from sleep to activity.
    I wear them in the evening when the day is done. They make up what feels like a protective cocoon.

    1. Joseph
      Joseph McCann
      3 months ago

      Thanks to our now adult children, evening relaxing clothes are called “stinky bedtime clothes” due to some they had at their grandmothers that were put away in the drawer wet!

      1. Mary
        Mary
        3 months ago

        😆

    2. D
      Drea
      3 months ago

      I love a good fuzzy robe!

      1. Mary
        Mary
        3 months ago

        Yes. 🥰

      2. Barb C
        Barb C
        3 months ago

        My husband and I both say “It’s time to fuzz up!” at the end of the day as we get into our comfy robes, slippers, and comfy PJ pants or sweats.

        1. Linda72766
          Linda
          3 months ago

          Love this!!

  10. pkr29022
    pkr
    3 months ago

    Water. I wake & immediately use the bathroom.
    I wash my face, make my coffee with water. I stay hydrated throughout the day drinking water. At day’s end I wash the dishes & shower, all done with water.
    I am so thankful for clean water.🕊️🩷💧

    1. Mary
      Mary
      3 months ago

      I agree that clean water is so precious, PKR.

  11. Carol Ann Conner
    Carol Ann Conner
    3 months ago

    My daily life would be very different if I did not have each and everyone of you who gather here for the daily question. Visiting with you all enriches my life and helps me nurture my gratefulness practice. I also deeply appreciate Br. David, his teachings, and the gratefulness staff for their wisdom and willingness to guide us on this journey.

    1. D
      Drea
      3 months ago

      Thank you Carol, and same to you.

  12. D
    Drea
    3 months ago

    I’m grateful for socks. Without them, my feet would be blistered, sweaty, probably grimy and beat up, and my shoes would be less comfortable. I’d have to wash my feet after every time I wore shoes, and I’d have to be washing the insides of my shoes all the time too. Socks are nice.

    1. Joseph
      Joseph McCann
      3 months ago

      Yes they are nice.

  13. Yram
    Yram
    3 months ago

    Like many of you water, plumbing and the phone came to mind. But then I thought what else. I looked out my window and thought WINDOWS AND DOORS. They are such openings that bring joy and pleasure to my days.

    1. Mary
      Mary
      3 months ago

      I love this answer, Yram.

  14. L
    Laura Fucci
    3 months ago

    Only one? I can think of so many – toothbrush, brush, soap, tea, food, water, clothes, – so many, but if I have to pick one, it is water. So versatile. You clean with it, cook with it, drink it, watch its beauty. So good.

  15. Charlie T
    Charlie T
    3 months ago

    I guess one item would be my car. I’m not sure it’s an everyday item, I mean, I don’t take it for granted, in fact, I think it’s amazing and extraordinary that I have access to this thing that gets me from place to place so easily. My job takes me all over the Bay Area, and without the means to this mobility, I couldn’t make a living the way I am now. Not that I cherish spending so much time sitting in traffic, but there really is no alternative. I’m not sure what I would do without the means to get around so effortlessly. And having something so reliable, is not unnoticed. I’ve had plenty of vehicles that required a small prayer, just to start. 😁

    1. Joseph
      Joseph McCann
      3 months ago

      I have had few of those in my life too, Charlie.

    2. sparrow51014
      sparrow
      3 months ago

      “I’ve had plenty of vehicles that required a small prayer, just to start.”

      Me too,
      dear Charlie . . .
      I used to call them ‘adventuremobiles.’ 🙂

      And yes,
      after having lived in San Francisco,
      I can whole heartedly agree with you about the traffic.

    3. pkr29022
      pkr
      3 months ago

      Charlie T., Bay Area traffic ugly. Yuk!!!

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