'Charmed Life' Verses Acceptance; Why Life is Hard for Most and a Bit About Gratitude

     No matter how bad things are, they could be worse.  Usually.  Recently I watched a true story on Netflix about a girl who was severely abused by her foster parent in the fifties, with the help of the foster home provider's natural sons.  It disturbed me deeply.
      We cannot control the world, but perhaps we can control ourselves.  Honestly, I am a greatly flawed individual and I will be the first to admit that.  I have been called angry and bitter, and I will own that, although as they say, and I say this without losing sight of gratitude for the good in my life, someone may always have it worse, if not greatly worse.  People are crucified like Jesus Christ every day, from a country in Africa, where a child is raped, a family killed, to here in the states where a child is murdered, sold into human trafficking, a huge worldwide problem, to a child abused at home or in foster care, to an abused spouse.  People are crucified daily, and I mean literally, let alone the concentration camps sixty years ago or more, but all over the world.
     I am trying to make an amends to my readers, in a sense, for being selfish, self-centered, and self-serving, if you will.  I have gratitude for what I do have, and I want you to know that, rich or poor, sick or healthy, I really do.  Here is an example of a gratitude list:                                           1) food and shelter
                                                 2) health
                                                 3) being able to pay bills
                                                 4) friends and family
                                                 5) clothing
                                                 6) talents and abilities
       This is a good thing to do, very therapeutic, and suggested by sponsors in twelve step programs, before anything else sometimes, and more than once, from time to time, over the years.  It is part of emotional sobriety and having a daily reprieve, a program, something everyone should have, I think.  It is a time of meditation, reflection, prayer, and self-searching, knowing what we could have done better, and what we can change or cannot, as well as how we can make an amends for our wrong doings, quickly and promptly, step nine and ten, The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.