One hundred forty three… Mr. Rogers (yes, that Mr. Rogers), maintained a body weight of 143 pounds for most of his adult life.  He kept his weight by eating a vegetarian diet (“nothing that had a mother”) and famously swimming laps each day.  He also observed it personally in another profound way:  “One letter for the word ‘I,’ four letters for the word ‘LOVE,’ and three letters for the word ‘YOU.’  We have to tell ourselves ‘I LOVE YOU’ and learn to love ourselves before we can learn to love others.”

St. (Mother) Teresa believed in numbers this way:  “Never worry about numbers…help ONE person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.”  Her life’s work had to be completely overwhelming, yet she reached millions starting with just ONE.

John Green, in his best-selling book The Fault In Our Stars, captured it brilliantly:  “Some infinities are bigger than other infinities…I cannot tell you how grateful I am for our little infinity.  You gave me forever within our numbered days, and I’m grateful…”  

St. M says we are “90.41% complete with this year, so on this 330th day of 2019 and Day #26 of our Gratefulness Game:  Is there a special number in your life and how does its significance spark gratefulness? 

Personally, I like the number 8.  It’s the third letter in the word, GR8FUL, and a gr8ful heart most definitely serves all of us well 365 days a year, so let’s finish the last 9.59% of 2019 gratefully strong, my friends!  🙂