Remember learning the song as a child, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one….”? If you are like me, you will now be humming this song and will have it in your head for the rest of the day.
In this Season of Thanksgiving, it is a great time for us all to be reminded to count our many blessings. My daughter spent time a few years ago serving in a local orphanage in Guatemala, and came back with an entirely new outlook on her own life and the world. Children who have been sheltered may not understand how good we have it here in the United States, however as adults we have no excuse. Even so, don’t we still find ourselves complaining at time about things that are insignificant?
Take a review of the last 24 hours. How often did you speak with an attitude of complaint versus an attitude of gratitude? Were you looking back with regret or forward with eager anticipation for positive things in your future? Let’s face it, we are human and can be prone to be negative, so it is important to check ourselves from time to time and self- correct as needed.
Here is some further perspective:
“If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world. If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation you are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering. If you can read this message you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.”
Author unknown
This season, choose to live gratefully. It requires active practice each day to focus on your blessings instead of your troubles. This is not always easy in this difficult world we live in. When things don’t always go your way, evaluate and take action where possible, and let go of what you can’t control. Trust that everything will work together for good.
Count your many blessings, name them one by one.
