Gratitude: The shortest path to Happiness

I'm currently reading Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. If I can gather my thoughts upon finishing it, I hope to deliver some sort of report. In the meantime, the chapter on women's suffrage has made me realize how fortunate we women are compared to women only 100 years ago, who didn't have the right to vote (among other things). Such a given nowadays, but fought so hard for back then.

My head spins after reading almost every page. In this instance, I thought of some of the things I take for granted on a daily basis.
A short list:

1. My right to vote.
2. Modern contraception (the Pill).
3. Immunizations for my children.
4. Our high efficiency washing machine (hello nine loads of laundry/week).
6. Our dishwasher (one reason I am able to write this right now).
7. Unlimited healthy food options (and clean water from the tap!).
8. My modern husband.
9. I'm not a mother of five fatherless children living in Darfur.
10.My children's health (a toddler of someone I know was recently diagnosed with a terrible cancer and is currently undergoing massive chemotherapy. The treatment will last a year. A year of fearing for your child's every breath.)

Things were so different 100 years ago, and will likely be just as different 100 years from now. I just hope I don't go a day of my own 100 years ungrateful in any way.