C.Let’s remember that gratitude is a “cultivated”trait；so if we want our children to be grateful，we must train them to be grateful.
Chapter 45
Would You Take a Million Dollars For What You Have
I have known Harold Abbott for years.He lives at 820South Madison Avenue，Webb City，Missouri.He used to be my lecture manager.One day he and I met in Kansas City and he drove me down to my farm at Belton，Missouri.During that drive，I asked him how he kept from worrying；and he told me an inspiring story that I shall never forget.
“I used to worry a lot，”he said，“but one spring day in 1934，I was walking down West Dougherty Street in Webb City when I saw a sight that banished all my worries.It all happened in ten seconds，but during those ten seconds I learned more about how to live than I had learned in the previous ten years.For two years I had been running a grocery store in Webb City，”Harold Abbott said，as he told me the story.“I had not only lost all my savings，but I had incurred debts that took me seven years to pay back.My grocery store had been closed the previous Saturday；and now I was going to the Merchants and Miners Bank to borrow money so I could go to Kansas City to look for a job.I walked like a beaten man.I had lost all my fight and faith.Then suddenly I saw coming down the street a man who had no legs.He was sitting on a little wooden platform equipped with wheels from roller skates.He propelled himself along the street with a block of wood in each hand.I met him just after he had crossed the street and was starting to lift himself up a few inches over the kerb to the sidewalk.As he tilted his little wooden platform to an angle，his eyes met mine.He greeted me with a grand smile.‘Good morning，sir.It is a fine morning，isn’t it？’he said with spirit.As I stood looking at him，I realised how rich I was.I had two legs.I could walk.I felt ashamed of my self-pity.I said to myself if he can be happy，cheerful，and confident without legs，I certainly can with legs.I could already feel my chest lifting.I had intended to ask the Merchants and Miners Bank for only one hundred dollars.But now I had courage to ask for two hundred.I had intended to say that I wanted to go to Kansas City to try to get a job.But now I announced confidently that I wanted to go to Kansas City to get a job.I got the loan；and I got the job.
“I now have the following words pasted on my bathroom mirror，and I read them every morning as I shave：
I had the blues because I had no shoes，
Until upon the street，I met a man who had no feet.
I once asked Eddie Rickenbacker what was the biggest lesson he had learned from drifting about with his companions in life rafts for twenty-one days，hopelessly lost in the Pacific.”The biggest lesson I learned from that experience，”he said，“was that if you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat，you ought never to complain about anything.”
Time ran an article about a sergeant who had been wounded on Guadalcanal.Hit in the throat by a shell fragment，this sergeant had had seven blood transfusions.Writing a note to his doctor，he asked：“Will I live？”The doctor replied：“Yes.”He wrote another note，asking：“Will I be able to talk？”Again the answer was yes.He then wrote another note，saying：“Then what in hell am I worrying about？”
Why don’t you stop right now and ask yourself：“What in the hell am I worrying about？”You will probably find that it is comparatively unimportant and insignificant.
About ninety percent of the things in our lives are right and about ten percent are wrong.If we want to be happy，all we have to do is to concentrate on the ninety per cent that are right and ignore the ten percent that are wrong.If we want to be worried and bitter and have stomach ulcers，all we have to do is to concentrate on the ten percent that are wrong and ignore the ninety per cent that are glorious.
The words “Think and Thank”are inscribed in many of the Cromwellian churches of England.These words ought to be inscribed in our hearts，too：“Think and Thank”.Think of all we have to be grateful for，and thank God for all our boons and bounties.Jonathan Swift，author of Gulliver’s Travels，was the most devastating pessimist in English literature.He was so sorry that he had been born that he wore black and fasted on his birthdays；yet，in his despair，this supreme pessimist of English literature praised the great health-giving powers of cheerfulness and happiness.“The best doctors in the world，”he declared，“are Doctor Diet，Doctor Quiet，and Doctor Merryman.”
You and I may have the services of “Doctor Merryman”free every hour of the day by keeping our attention fixed on all the incredible riches we possess—riches exceeding by far the fabled treasures of Ali Baba.Would you sell both your eyes for a billion dollars？What would you take for your two legs？Your hands？Your hearing？Your children？Your family？Add up your assets，and you will find that you won’t sell what you have for all the gold ever amassed by the Rockefellers，the Fords and the Morgans combined.
But do we appreciate all this？Ah，no.As Schopenhauer said：“We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack.”Yes，the tendency to “seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack”is the greatest tragedy on earth.It has probably caused more misery than all the wars and diseases in history.
It caused John Palmer to turn “from a regular guy into an old grouch”，and almost wrecked his home.I know because he told me so.