If you’re anything like me, your instinct is to first notice what’s missing or gone from your life rather than what’s not missing and not gone. In other words, we’re talking about the proverbial cup half-full and cup half-empty. 

Both are equally real, but the half-empty one gets more press. Given all we as Americans have gone through these past years, it seems to me now is a good time (it’s always a good time) to, in a concrete, methodical fashion, remind ourselves of the half-full cup.

That’s the cup that contains friendships, family members (if you have family), music, comedy that you find funny. The sound of laughter is in my half-full cup. So is the music I like, the artists and writers and athletes and so on that I’ve admired over the years.

And then, of course, nature. Mother Nature. Sunrises, sunsets, seeing the moon, cloud formations that take the breath away with their majesty. The magic and wonder of thunderstorms. The ineffable beauty and magic of the silent snowfall, large flakes dancing in the air as they head to the ground. 

Coffee is in my cup half-full too. 

It’s not so much that you need the lift that comes from knowing what’s in your cup half-full; you bloody well deserve it. Promise.