Not that I am a tzadeikes in any way, but it seems axiomatic to me that any of us who B”H gets up in the morning, has a job to go to, children and/or grandchildren to play with (the koach to do so), good health, or recovering health, people around him/her who love and care about them, WOULD have appreciation for Hashem. So why do some of us take His Chessed for granted?
Why do we say modeh ani every morning? Not because HASHEM needs it, surely. It’s because it is a really good thing to start every morning with that recognition that but for Hashem, we would not be here to even say modeh ani. It just seems so simple to me. And I am not a Pollyanna. I have had and do have my share of nisyonos of life, some more painful than others. But that, too, is a wakeup call for some of us, to remind us of how good life can be, and how we need to appreciate that good, which unfortunately sometimes is not recognized until we compare it with something not so good.
Someone once said, “I felt bad that I didn’t have a new pair of shoes – until I saw a man who had no feet.” That about sums it up for me.