Be Thankful for Heat

So its winter, something most people dread because of the harsh reality of the bitter cold. Some of us are reminded of this every morning when we must drag ourselves out of our warm and cozy bed to abuse our bodies to such climate of the outside world. I know first hand how this leaves your body to feel. Every morning I wake up all warm and toasty in my flannel covers staring out the window thinking to myself, will today be as cold as yesterday. Why do I even bother asking myself this because I know the answer, yes....yes you fool it will most likely be even colder. So I have to drag myself out of bed and sooner or later I am waking to the Metra and standing in the frigid winds waiting for the train to arrive. When it arrives my body gets to sit in a warm train, which is interesting because since my body has already been tampered with in the cold it doesn't really know how to react to this new found warmth. So it does its best to adjust and as soon as it begins to turn the train pulls into Union Station and I have to walk to work. This whole time I am thinking to myself, man this body can't figure out which knob is hot and which is cold. So when I finally get to the office my body says, "Dan, I am confused, I think I will just stay both hot and cold and you can feel the wrath of being sick!"
It is this thought that crosses my mind every morning that makes me wonder why I even bother showing up to work. Then it hits me, its because money is good and without it I wouldn't even have the comfy cozy flannel sheets that I woke up in.

This brings me to my actual point that I wanted to get to tonight. During this walk I see people who no one else really wants to see. I see these cold tired warn down humans that are treated like they might as well be ghost in this ever so lively world. I wonder how they came to be in their situation and what stories they have to give. I wonder if they used to wake up in flannel sheets ever and think the thoughts that I think every morning. This usually leaves me with a very overwhelming feeling of guilt knowing that I complain about something as sad as my walks from train to work while these poor unfortunate souls must endure the hardships of a bitter reality. So do everyone a favor, do not ignore these people because they are people, just like you and me. Wish them the best, throw your spare change their way, buy someone a hot chocolate while you which them a Merry Christmas and remember that maybe you don't have it nearly as bad as you might imagine....