My 2 ½ year old son got a new pair of shoes yesterday – and they aren’t just any pair of shoes, they are FAST SHOES! He’ll show you too. He runs circles around you. He runs all around our office, around the house, down the hallway, he runs from the park’s playground to the sidewalk near the street. “FAST SHOES,” he says.

I remember my pair of FAST SHOES. I was about 5 years old and everything about them felt like there was nothing better in the world. And, wow, was I fast! At least it felt that way!

Pushing aside the urge to somehow explain to my 2 ½ year old son, that it isn’t really the shoes, it’s HIM that’s fast, I realized, “Hey, look how much enjoyment and fun he’s generating from something so simple?”

Then I looked at my life. I asked myself the question: “How many things am I surrounded by that are great and magnificent, yet I don’t take the time to acknowledge or appreciate them?”

Last night, going to bed, finishing some late night emails, pondering so many different thoughts and to-do’s in my head, my wife said to me: “take a moment of gratitude before you go to sleep, you don’t seem like you’re in a very grateful place right now.” So rather than go into defense and attack mode – I took her advice. I took a few simple moments to think of things I am truly grateful for. I had a great night’s sleep, awaking refreshed and energized for the day.

Oh, and I decided to put on my FAST SHOES this morning!