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180 grateful steps
There I was—gloomy and miserable. The thought of going to work was almost too dreadful to bear. Things weren’t progressing as quickly as I thought they should be, and it was making me so unhappy! Though I felt defeated and discouraged, I trudged to work.
My office is ten stories up. As I approached the elevator, the thought hit me: “Are we really grateful for the good already received?” Mary Baker Eddy poses this question on page three of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself this question and exasperatedly thought, “Well, of course I am!” and then continued to sulk. I was about to step into the elevator when an angel message asked me to reconsider this statement. So I did, thoughtfully and purposely, like this:
“Are you grateful for ALL the good you have already received?” Whoa. “All the good?” I pondered, “That’s a lot.”
I looked to my left and saw the entrance to the stairwell. I’ve been in this stairwell many times. It is winding, narrow, and deserted. Each stair is numbered, and there are 180 steps to the top. I resolved right then and there to take the stairs and audibly announce something I was grateful for with every step. I didn’t know if I could list 180 good things I already had, but I was going to try.
The first four steps were easy, and so were the next ten. At first I was grateful for green grapes. And then oranges and ice cream. Pretty soon I started thinking about teachers I’ve had and all the people who have supported my career goals.
As I started gaining momentum, I realized I was taking the steps faster than I could list things to be grateful for, so I slowed down. I wouldn’t allow myself to climb the next stair until I had said something good I had already received. As I heard myself announce something new with every step, it became clear to me how important it is to listen for the angel messages we’re constantly receiving. Pretty soon I was at the top—rejuvenated and refreshed, not flushed and breathless. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to find 180 things to be grateful for! And when I got to the top, I thought of more. In fact, all day long, even more things kept coming to mind.
My inspiring trip upstairs reminded me of another statement Mrs. Eddy makes in Science and Health that I’ve plodded past many times. She impels us to “strive to reach the Horeb height where God is revealed” (p. 241 ). Mount Horeb (or Sinai depending on your Bible translation) is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. I didn’t need to go and climb this mountain to see God. I did, however, have another kind of climbing to do. I needed to strive toward a higher level of thinking, to climb out of the mortal limits that were keeping me down so that I could emerge on top with God.
Listing all those things I was grateful for reminded me that good comes from God and is infinite. You can’t measure good—you can’t limit something that is infinite. Look around you, the good is there and it keeps coming. Keep climbing! I’ll be doing the same.
—Ana Riera, St. Louis, Missouri, US