Start Each Day With a Grateful Heart

I'm not sure who should receive credit for this quote, but I came across it about five years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.  I think it is a simple and direct way to capture how I believe everyone should feel about life.  Start each day with a grateful heart, count your blessings.  "Tomayto, tomahto" as they say.  Yesterday something happened that really put my life into perspective and made me reevaluate things I suppose.  It may sound extreme, but perhaps you've never been in a life threatening situation.  Some friends of mine and I went to an Indian restaurant for dinner.  After a 45 minute wait we were finally seated and quickly ordered our entrees.  When our food arrived my friends and I immediately dug in as we had built up quite the appetite.  I consider myself to be a speedy eater, but never have literally inhaled my food of course.  Second bite into my Chicken Biryani and I second guessed my ability to inhale.  I tried my honest best to swallow the chunk of chicken that inadvertently made its way into my throat without being chewed.  I gulped and gulped trying to force the piece of meat down, but failed miserably.  My friends caught on and knew something was wrong.  I scooted out of the booth to stand up and started coughing, signaling to my friends I needed help.  The next thing I knew my friend's arms were around my midsection and with one swift motion to my stomach, my throat was clear and I could breath again.  After the very exciting interruption to our dinner, I returned to my seat with tears in my eyes and impressively enough finished my meal.  My friends asked how I was doing and we all recounted what had just happened.  Laughing seemed to be the most appropriate reaction to ease the situation.  They continued chatting as I found myself zoning out.  The rest of the time we were there, I was deep in thought about life.  You always hear that your life flashes before your eyes at the beginning or during a life threatening situation; however, I can't say that was true for me as I experienced this phenomenon post-choking.  I am still shaken up today with a bit of a sore throat, but it is safe to say I woke up with a grateful heart, I counted my blessings, and I am looking at today with a new set of eyes.  This life is so precious and I am nowhere near ready leaving it just yet.