{"id":374,"date":"2022-10-03T05:36:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T05:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/?p=374"},"modified":"2022-10-03T09:41:39","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T09:41:39","slug":"take-things-for-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/take-things-for-granted\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Things for Granted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“The devil doesn\u2019t have to steal anything from you, all he has to do is make you take it for granted”<\/em> \u2013 Max Lucado<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because our minds are so used to running around uncontrollably, we don\u2019t realize that our focus isn\u2019t where we are. It is almost always somewhere else! But hidden blessings are available right now, if you can take a step back and notice where you are on the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seriously, I want you to do this. Look at yourself and reflect for a second before reading this blog. Notice the environment all around you. I\u2019ll give you a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane Ian bringing wrath to SW Florida last week has really given me an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and made me reflect on the things we can easily take for granted. You can see how quickly it can all be stripped right from our fingertips!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As most of you may know by now, a topic that I’m very passionate about is Gratitude but also Continuous Growth. As I have reflected over the last week, I have asked God in my quiet time to never let me take my days for granted. As I look around and see all that I have to be grateful for, and I push so hard for continued growth, I have to remind myself to stop and appreciate things right where they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know the feeling that I’m talking about? When you feel bad about yourself for not being grateful enough. You are busy working very hard, trying to make things all work out. Busy at life. But then you experience something or a feeling, and you realize that you\u2019re so busy trying to make your life better, you sometimes forget that everything you have going for you is already so incredible! Yes, there will always be things you want to accomplish. There are goals yet to be realized. The future surely does promise us better things. But you know what – The present, too, is a portal to hidden gifts and blessings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underneath your routine life is a hidden treasure trove of countless blessings. Each of those blessings has helped you reach the place in your life where you are today. They played a crucial role in molding your life into the masterpiece it is right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the old saying goes, \u201cYou should appreciate what you have before it becomes what you had.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single day is a gift. Don’t take life itself for granted either! Remember this my amigos… Celebrate life and count your blessings. Right here – Right now! They are all around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My continued thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Ian’s destruction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The devil doesn\u2019t have to steal anything from you, all he has to do is make you take it for granted” \u2013 Max Lucado Because our minds are so used to running around uncontrollably, we don\u2019t realize that our focus isn\u2019t where we are. It is almost always somewhere else! But hidden blessings are available … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gratitude","category-love","category-organizational-growth","category-personal-growth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}