Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and having a readiness to show appreciation. Simply by living in a country where there’s abundant shelter, food and clean water, we’ve got more for which to be grateful than the majority of those living in this world.

Being born a citizen of the United States of America is certainly something over which to have a great deal of gratitude. There are still people in the United States who do not have shelter, safety and may not know from where their next meal is coming. But we do live in a nation, and a community, where if people need help, they can get it.

The same is far from true all over the world. A request for help could be met by indifference, oppression or bondage.

I’ve been thinking about gratitude as I occasionally volunteer as a comfort companion at Monroe Clinic. I’m not writing this to toot my horn about being a volunteer. I probably give the least hours to the program of all the volunteers involved. Monroe Clinic has many volunteers that give selflessly and provide many hours of relief to others. I’m a tiny part of this.

As a simple, average person, I get more out of volunteering than I put in. Comfort companions visit patients at the hospital who may not have relatives living nearby or get many visitors. Sometimes people don’t just like to watch the TV in the hospital, so we give them someone to talk to, someone to pray with or simply a kind presence in their room for a period of time if they’re willing.

I’ve often gone in to volunteer with the weight of the world on my shoulders – a heavy load at work, concerns about my family, curiosity over how I will pay all my bills. These are average human concerns we all share. Most of the time I come out of comfort companion volunteering feeling much more gratitude toward my situation in life – having a family, being relatively healthy and having peace.

I’ve come across a wide variety of people who I’ve visited as a comfort companion and most of them are upbeat and positive. This is despite facing serious illnesses, suffering from pain or dealing with some difficult family situations. Due to matters of privacy, I can’t share any names with you. 

Recently, I talked to a man who has been in the hospital for long stretches since late last year and was suffering a variety of ailments most of us wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy. Yet, he remained upbeat. And while he talked about the medical services provided to him and the doctors and nurses who had cared for him, he had special words of kindness for the certified nursing assistants, the custodians and the dietary/food service staff.

“Those are the people who make this place special,” he said. “Everybody is busy, but the custodian knows me by name and always says ‘hi’ to me every time he sees me. That really means a lot.”

From the patients I’ve visited at Monroe Clinic, I’ve heard many stories of gratitude. And those stories have reminded me that I, too, should be grateful for the things I have and the kindness in my life.

I’ve visited patients who were openly unhappy, uncommunicative or just struggling — and that’s what I would expect in a hospital ward. There are some people I visit as a comfort companion who have a life of relative ease and will be getting out of the hospital soon to return to a normal, affluent life.

When I visit Monroe Clinic as a volunteer, now I’m more often reminded of my age and health. I’m glad to be walking in as a volunteer rather than being wheeled in as a patient — and that has happened to me more than once.

I’m grateful to be a citizen of this nation, because places like Monroe Clinic do not exist in every place on the globe. I believe, as an American citizen, I have a wonderful standard of living and opportunity. I also have freedom. I have gratitude because it’s important to remember the kindness and joy in our lives, otherwise it becomes too easy to focus on the negative things that steal our joy — often for no reason.

Counting blessings can help change your entire view on life. Sharing kindness with others creates a revolution of positivity. This can be shared in many ways and everyone can participate on the giving or receiving end.

— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.