This morning, I woke up in a bed, with a roof over my head.

2 billion people on our planet do not have this luxury.

Gratitude

I get up and open the window to breathe in the morning air. The air is pure.

2 billion people on our planet live in unhygienic conditions.

Gratitude

I am thirsty. I open a faucet and clean, pure water gushes out.

1 billion people on this planet do not have direct access to drinking water.

Gratitude

For breakfast, I have homemade waffles and grapes.

1 billion people on earth are malnourished (and could be fed with our annual food waste).

Gratitude

My day ahead looks very busy but I don’t dare complain. I love what I do and I have a job.

So many people are jobless.

Gratitude

I browse the latest medical studies on nutrition.

Because, yes, I am lucky enough to have learned how to read.

1 billion people are illiterate, including 2/3 of women.

Gratitude

A business partner swindles me. A disturbing and destructive situation.

But being in this situation also means that I, a woman, have the right to create a company.

Gratitude

I put on my sneakers and go running. I’m in pain – I’ve suffered from rheumatism ever since I was 5 years old (yes, I was precocious).

But experiencing this pain means I have two legs. Something injured people dream of having.

Gratitude

A friend surprises me with a basket full of goodies.

No particular reason. Just because.

So many people in this world don’t have close friends they can rely on.

Gratitude

I meet a friend at Starbucks to enjoy a tea together. Cost of our fun? $2.50.

3 billion people survive on less than $2.50 per day.

Gratitude

My son calls me to tell me about his day. I am happy to be a mother.

900 million women would prevent pregnancy if they could. More than half of them have no access to contraception.

Gratitude

I call the doctor to schedule my annual visit.

On wellness and weight loss forums that I monitor, women are at each other’s throats. Fierce arguing. Insulting remarks.

I am upset by so much aggressiveness.

But even though I don’t endorse this behavior, deep down I recognize how lucky they are to have the inalienable right of freedom of expression. So many people suffer from censorship.

Gratitude

And then, on the evening of this day spent in Gratitude, I hear the awful news from Paris.

Barbarians have committed the unthinkable. Scenes you wouldn’t even see in a horror film – and yet these scenes are the sad reality.

My heart is bleeding in the face of this tragedy.

My soul is crying.

I want to hug the victims’ families. I want to turn back time. I am powerless.

But…my family was spared. My friends managed to escape. And so, a great moment of gratitude for those of us who have survived, unharmed.

For those of us who are lucky enough to have small moments of happiness that have been torn from others.

Gratitude & Namaste