In Calgary we buy tickets to get on the train and then someone who works for Calgary transit will occasionally check to see if people have tickets (very Canadian!). Today, I was running to catch a train; I needed a ticket and someone gave me his. This saved me ~$3 and more importantly let me catch the train and go home. It had been a long day and I needed to go home.
This is the kind of generosity that I find easy to overlook. It’s small, but it was exactly what I needed (I was also tired, which makes it harder to be grateful). It amuses me to think that what I want is extravagant excesses, however as the old English proverb says: “Enough is as good as a feast.” This holiday season I can be a bit jealous of the Muscovite Boyer bride in the picture below. There are many reasons that Muscovite Boyer bride might not be happy. Would too much really make me happy? Hmm.
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By Konstantin Makovsky – Google Cultural Institute (original file link), Public Domain, Link
What can I do to help me see that I have enough for today?
Small Kind Things 
I’ve had a few of these happen recently, and I think that because of this blog I’m looking through a lens of kindness, so I’m noticing them more. At the grocery store, a man pulling out a shopping cart for himself gave it to me when I walked up and got himself the next one. A woman let me back in my spot in the Starbucks line after I had to leave to help my daughter with the lock on the bathroom door. A man insisted I go in front of him at the checkout because I had the baby with me. Very small things, but they make a difference. I’m consciously making eye contact and smiling when I say thank you, to express sincere appreciation.
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As far as gratitude/seeing that you have enough goes, I was journaling with Five Minute Journal, which also has an app. Every morning you write down three things you’re grateful for, and every evening you write down three good things that happened. I found it helped to bookend my day with that state of mind.
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