Fwd: 3am Wake Up

Believe it or not… I feel the same way!  Grateful even for the "not so fun stuff"!

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Karl at Bring Gratitude" <karl@bringgratitude.com>

Donna

"I just threw up," I heard in my dreams.

I opened my eyes. It was pitch black in our bedroom. I thought, Who said that?

I waited.

"I just threw up," my son said again.

He had come into our room, looking for my wife and me to help him.

I was tired from working late and just wanted to stay snuggled underneath the covers.

I need to help my son. The thought was brief, just popped into my head.

There was this quick moment of feeling grateful for the ability to help him. It spurred me to get up and put my feet on the ground.

My wife and I got up. My son had thrown up all over his bed. It smelled terrible.

I helped my son get undressed and cleaned up. I got him a glass of water and stood with him while he brushed his teeth. My wife changed the sheets, threw them in the washing machine, and put new sheets on his bed.

He got back in bed, laid his head down, and closed his eyes.

"Poor guy," my wife whispered to me.

"Yep. He's a tough little dude," I replied.

She nodded.

If someone had asked me fifteen years ago if I would ever be grateful for waking up at 3:00 a.m. because someone threw up, I would have confidently said no.

Fast forward to today, and I can confidently say yes. I felt grateful to be able to help my son. To make a rough night a little easier for him. Helping him was way more important than my own sleep.

Thanks,
Karl

P.S. This is story number 15 of 109 from the Bring Gratitude book. If you want to get all the stories at once just pick up the book Bring Gratitude book.