Sometimes the unexpected moments in a day are the ones that you end up being the most thankful for.

Maybe they’re things you didn’t see coming that surprise you with a moment of happiness.

They could be things that you know you need to do at work before you leave for the day, but you’re deftly avoiding them with all the skill of a bullfighter. Oddly enough, once you sit down and dive in, you find that those things are actually interesting. And enjoyable.

Perhaps they’re things that you keep putting off, hour and hour, day after day, week after week. And then one night when you sit down to write your daily blog post, you find yourself perusing computer folders and dusting off unfinished projects. Before you know it, you’ve ended up finishing a play before you’ve even started blogging. (Definitely didn’t see that on the radar today when I woke up.)

Maybe your most thankful moment is the quiet one you thought you wouldn’t be able to take for yourself at all…but which you ended up finding anyway.

Some have said it’s the moment the kids fall asleep; others have said it’s that moment in the morning when they’re first awake. For some, it might be in the gentle pawing of a cat, or in the comforting nuzzle of a dog.

Whatever moments you’re thankful for, whether unexpected or not, we can usually find at least one to be grateful for each day — despite the fact that not all moments in our days are great. Tonight I am thankful for those moments that make ordinary days extraordinary.