I woke up at 6:25am like I do every weekday. I don\’t have a traditional alarm clock. Rather, I\’m awoken by my Fitbit. No blaring noise, no waking up my wife, just a simple vibration on my wrist. It\’s one of the many conveniences I usually take for granted.

On my morning commute I read a blog post from Seth Godin that struck me.

Thanks to marketing, the media and our culture, we spend a lot of our time comparing before we decide whether or not we\’re happy.

Turn back the clock just 60 years. If you lived in 1957, how would your life compare to the one you live right now? Well, you have access to lifesaving medicines, often in pill form. You can choose from an infinite amount of entertainment, you can connect with humans all over the Earth, for free, at the click of a button. You have access to the sum total of human knowledge…

But we don\’t compare our lives to this imaginary juxtaposition. Instead, we hear two things from the media we choose to engage with: Other people have it better, way better. And, it\’s going to get worse.

It\’s easy to compare ourselves to others. It\’s hard to ignore what others have and show gratitude for what we do have. Even if you\’re not in the top 1%, you undoubtedly enjoy many things those who lived hundreds of years ago could never dream of.

Here\’s a list of modern conveniences I\’m grateful for:

1. iPhone
2. Television
3. The Internet
4. Fitbit
5. Heater
6. My car
7. The train I commute to work on
8. Audiobooks
9. Kindle
10. Hot water
11. Dishwasher
12. Washing machine
13. Dryer
14. Online shopping
15. Netflix
16. Computers
17. Social Media
18. Refrigerators
19. Microwaves
20. Grocery stores

I threw that list together in less than a minute.

I am grateful for modern conveniences.

#30daysofgratitude