What if... Gratitude List

I know this may sound crazy, and in all actuality it probably is. But, what if we could change the world in one e-mail? I'm starting a campaign. I am sending a soldier a Gratitude List of 10 reasons why I am grateful. I am sending this because I am in a funk, and depressed, and it's Christmas time. I have $60,000 in credit card debt, a mortgage that is late and upside down, no corporate paycheck for 2 years and every reason to feel that the bullets I'm dodging are real.

They just don't explode and aren't flying over my head. The air I breathe is without sandstorm dust clogging up my nostrils. I listen to the quiet surrender of a peaceful night as I am lulled to sleep full of worry and fear. I have a bed, fluffy pillows, a warm comforter, soft pajama's and my dog laying nearby.

I have a lot to be grateful for. I have a soldier to thank. It is Christmas. I have family, and love, and health, I am breathing, I can talk, I can walk. It is all so simple, but when those are taken away, the heart stopping fear of what really could be the truth of my every day existence could be so much worse.

I could be homeless. I might not have the luxury of going to the bathroom at 4 a.m. in a toilet with running water. I have a roof. I have a kitchen. There are no bombs flying in my neighborhood. War has been a newsreel. Always. The visions are all in digitized form... I am grateful and before I tell you why I want to ask you to be part of this campaign. Because it's so simple, really. If we all sent our list of gratitude to every person in our contact list every single day and included one anonymous soldier.

AND

Those people in our contact list sent 10 reasons why they are grateful to their contact list and included one anonymous soldier.

AND

Those people turned around and sent their 10 reasons why they are grateful to everyone in their contact list and an anonymous soldier.

WE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!

We all beat ourselves up, right? You're probably doing it right now for something you should be doing that is A LOT MORE IMPORTANT than reading this stupid e-mail. Paying bills, finding a job, typing your goals, finishing the budget for 2010, fixing dinner, getting ready for work, helping your kids with their homework. Whatever it is that you're not doing at this exact moment.

So what if you wrote, right now, this minute, 10 reasons why you are grateful? It can be as simple as because you are breathing, because you can walk, because you can see, because you have a dog, everyone has reasons to be grateful, sometimes we just have to remind ourselves.

I have included my letter to a soldier and I have forwarded that letter to you, my contact list. I am telling you the 10 reasons why I am grateful today. AND, I'm going to do it tomorrow. I am going to do it everyday. Positive energy creates positive healing and if we all can remember to write down 10 reasons why we are grateful every single day and forward that to our contact list and send it to an anonymous soldier...

WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

Dear Soldier,

I picked your name at random from anysoldier.com and wanted to start out by telling you how grateful I am that you are performing your duties. You can't hide under the covers like I can when I'm scared and fearful. You must do your job regardless of how many hours of sleep you get or what's happening at home.

I see from the little bit you said about yourself that you are from New Jersey. I am from Southern California. You are 19, I am 50. You are someone's son, I am a mother.

I am writing you this letter to tell you how much I am grateful for your commitment to my protection.

I am grateful for the freedoms I have every day. I can watch over 100 channels on television, because there are satellites that you protect.

I am grateful for the family and friends that I have who love me and support me. I can call them at any time from my cell phone and talk for hours. I can do this and I know you can't and my heart aches for you. Yet you are making this sacrifice for me.

I am grateful because I don't live in a bombed out shelter and have to worry where my food will come from today. I have a plethora of grocery stores to chose from. I don't know what you will be eating today, but I know you miss meals from home. Thank you for standing up to those that would be happy if I were standing in a bread line.

I am grateful that I can write whatever I want to write. My voice can reflect feelings of anguish or joy and I can share that message with millions. Literally... Your efforts of relentless security offer me a country where freedom of speech is my right.

I am grateful that I can walk on country roads, listen to birds singing, enjoy the crashing of waves, hear the trickle of a small stream and feel the sun on my face all in one day. Because you are battling blisters, thirst, and dark shadows, I am able to survive in paradise.

I am grateful for the fireplace that keeps me warm. I stretch out my cold hands from typing and feel the tickle as the flames melt the chill. I wonder to what extremes you find your extremities in. Cold, hot? Both? Thank you for shivering and sweating so that I can turn a knob and be instantly gratified.

I am grateful for the pile of bills to the right of my computer. It means I have lived. I have all the perks of electricity, a car, even insurance if something goes sideways. I bend my head and shake it when I think of the people you might be surrounded by. What if our country was war torn and ravaged? You are standing tall to prevent eruptions on our soil.

I am grateful for your uniform. It might be dirty and probably stinky considering you're a guy. But what it stands for brings tears to my eye. It could be cami's, or a dress uniform or simple blues. You are a Marine, and in the eyes of Camp Pendleton soldiers, I see you everywhere and salute your bravery.

I am grateful when I see military planes, helicopters and the acrobatics of jets. I gaze up with appreciation when your peers fly over my house and offer me safety while walking to my mailbox. What if I had to run for cover instead? I hope they know that I bless them every time with appreciation.

I am grateful for you. A 19 year old guy who decided to join the Marines! What if you were the only one? Thank God you are not. I have a lot to be grateful for because with all my troubles and fears and worries that I carry I also know I have gifts of freedom and choice and opportunity and creativity. I can motivate and inspire. I can share and let others know how important it is to be grateful for what I have.

I hope you will in turn forward this letter and include the 10 reasons you are grateful and commit to doing this everyday. Please don't make it as long as mine, we'll never get the campaign off the ground... I can be verbose and since this is the first one, I wanted to be a little more precise of what I am grateful for.

To find an anonymous soldier visit anysoldier.com