When Eliana graduated from high school, we told her she could either have a graduation party or take a trip to wherever she wanted to go. She chose the trip, and we found ourselves in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. The last two days of our tour in the country found us at Playa Tambor on the Nicoya Peninsula, overlooking the ocean.
Our tour guide mentioned that if our group wanted to see the sunrise, she would work it out that the resort staff would have a light breakfast and coffee waiting for us at 5:15am and we’d be able to see the sunrise just a few short moments later.
5:15 a.m. is early on a normal day, let alone on vacation, but we set our alarms so we could put on a hat and walk down to the beach by sunrise. We sat in our beach chairs and waited.
Then, in all its splendor, the light of the morning began to take shape. Magical hues of pinks, oranges, blues, yellows and grays unfolded before our eyes. The photo I took that morning can be seen in the cover image for this blog.
A moment before the sun’s crest, I noticed the resort staff had also come to congregate around the event. My brain thought this to be oddly cool. I mean, the staff are from here. Likely born and raised. They got to see this every single morning. Their job is to prepare coffee and breakfast for their guests, yet they each took a moment to join the rest of us for the sun’s unveiling.
I asked the tour guide, Martha (pronounced Mar-ta in Spanish dialect), if it was common that the staff joins everyone on the beach to take pictures of the sunrise. She called over the head waiter even though she knew the answer, but she wanted us to hear it from him.
Through translation, she asked him why they did that.
He explained that, for a long time, he busied himself preparing coffee and breakfast for the guests but came to the realization that he and his staff were missing out on the magic of the sunrise. He concluded that he didn’t want to miss it, nor did he want his staff to. It was a great way to start his morning. So, he gave himself and his staff a quick 5-minute break to join the guests each morning for the momentous event.
Each morning, he took a picture.
Each one, different. Unique. Never before seen colors and shapes and cloud formations and rays of light. His phone was full of hundreds of sunrise pictures on the Costa Rican shores. He concluded, “If the people who live here and see it every day are awed by its beauty, you know it’s special.”
In that moment, I couldn’t help but contemplate the things I take for granted.
Where I’m from in Northwest Ohio, the sunrises are still beautiful but perhaps not as picturesque as in Costa Rica.
Even saying that makes me feel unappreciative.
Who am I to judge which is better?
Can’t I just be grateful for the sunrises He provides me each and every day?
What other things, perhaps as routine as a sunrise, do I take for granted every day?
A wife to wake up next to.
Kids who I love spending time with.
A job I enjoy doing.
A car to get me there.
Coffee to kickstart my day.
A refrigerator that keeps my milk cold.
Clean, running water to brush my teeth with.
Breath in my lungs.
My health.
My career.
My church.
My community.
My friends.
I could go on and on, but you get my point.
Far be it from me to overlook the small blessings in my life. To get caught up “preparing breakfast for my guests” that I miss the beauty of the moment. Perhaps it’d only take 5 minutes, maybe less, to pause and enjoy the moment. To take a picture on my phone, or my heart. To be grateful. To not take it for granted.
May we not get so caught up in our day that we miss the moments that, when added up, make a life.
Don’t take things for granted. And live on purpose today.
