It was just an ordinary January night, very, very cold, in Nashville, Tennessee. I was invited to a party, a get-together on a Sunday evening, with some very special friends—several of them bordering on family.

So I went, and I was going to meet some new people I had never met…which, like in your city, probably isn't any big deal. We embrace that opportunity. But little did I know what I was going to find.

The couple I met, Jim and Cindy, had met each other when they were five and six years old, respectively, back in their neighborhood. It was a few years later, when they were in their late teens, that they were introduced again, fell in love, married.

Now we're looking at them, fast-forward, something like 25 years later. So what is distinguishing about this couple? Just this: they both have cerebral palsy.

He has it, apparently, worse than she does. He takes a lot more time. But here's what I want to tell you that I saw. I just happened to be, for lack of a better word, the dude assigned to security and greeting people—not the bouncer, because it wasn't that kind of party.

But I'm monitoring the door and they drive up. First of all they came out with a family, then I see a lady get out, and she's obviously got an issue, a disability—that's what they call it. And then I see the man, and he's helped by several others…and it's excruciatingly slow.

This guy measures progress in inches. Bless him, bless him, bless him. But I'm going to tell you, he wasn't about to accept any help. He didn't need it. All he needed was patience and a little attention. And I'm telling you, that guy—talk about making a person feel grateful! I was there for him any minute if he needed it, which he didn't. But he had to climb up two steps to get to the porch, and it was a major, massive production. Now, he took it in good heart. I was there in HoloMagic, watching what was going on.

He would not let me help, but he was grateful that I was there if the need came up. And the wife; sure, she told me, "He's the one who takes more time." We got him in, guided down, got him in a good, comfortable spot, and had a good visit, a good party.

The blessing is to look at this and appreciate it. This whole philosophy I'm promoting is an attitude of gratitude—but every now and then you get a special slice. You're striding down the road… and then you see someone who has such a different capacity. And you see the pride and the independence that they have, too.

Then you see, again, how many reasons you have for living and contributing to this world—how blessed you are. And you can thank whatever form of higher power you feel comfortable thanking right now, because you are blessed.

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