Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury. And the sense of injury depends on the feeling that a legitimate claim has been denied. The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be induced to make, the more often he will feel injured and, as a result, ill-tempered.” Screwtape to Wormwood - C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
The things I expect to get.
The tasks I hope to accomplish.
The time, especially the time, that I look forward to having.
All the things I feel I have a legitimate claim on; and the missing of them, conceived of as injury.
"And what do you have that you did not receive?" Paul asks. (1 Cor. 4:7)
If I could steal time or wrestle blessings or make my own power, should I be a happier person? No, but I would be a neurotic hoarder, ever-afraid of losing what I gained by my own hands and wit.
So everything is a gift and nothing is owed me, and the blessing in today will come from choosing to be thankful for the Giver, most of all.