My wife and I take pride in caring for our things. I get the oil changed regularly by professionals and perform the recommended maintenance on my machines. We even go to the doctor for regular check-ups.

But some days stuff breaks. In one day last week, the HVAC didn't heat, the dryer stopped spinning and the dog had an issue that required a vet's attention. It didn't all hit me until I was on my way home from having the nail pulled out of my tire.

I sat at the table with wet clothes strewn about the kitchen while the goopy-eyed dog begged me to throw the ball. I felt done. So I started the bath tub (until I remembered that water heater had died).

Not only was I super annoyed at the day, each broken thing required time to fix (or to watch someone else fix) and it required money. Thankfully, we're not going to have to sell a child to pay for the clothes dryer, but still; that's $89 to pay some guy to come to my house to tell me it doesn't work. I could find much better uses for $89. So when a child spilled a drink, I reacted as one does having just spent the vacation money on flux capacitors and guys with their names patched on their shirts. I was loud. The kids apologized profusely -- even the ones that didn't spill their drinks.

I had gotten so wrapped up in my own self-pity that I had forgotten the kids were unaware and that they were fine. I traded gratitude for self-pity. So I sent them to fetch my notebook and took a note of what I was grateful for. Admittedly, it took a minute, but I found something to be thankful for then I found another and another. I was still grumpy about the dryer and mad at my neighbor for how his renovation crew left nails in the road, but found gratitude in knowing that it I was not traveling and was able to address the challenges.

Some days shit just breaks. And there's still much for which to be thankful.