Blessings

Okay. I’m going to ask a very trite question…drum roll…when was the last time that you counted your blessings?

I’m not a mom, but I had a small taste of the chauffeur service that those of you who are parents provide constantly for your kids. Only I was the kid driving my parents around. This rarely happens. They both must be incapacitated for me to be the designated driver. But with my dad one week post-op and my mom scheduled for a minor procedure, I drove them down to the medical center twice for three different appointments in six hours. A taste of what is to come? I doubt it. My parents, at 78 and 80, are both in remarkably good health.

Within a ten day period, between the two of them, they went through one surgical procedure, one medical procedure, one post-op complication, one trip to the emergency room and four medical appointments. That sounds like a lot, but in fact, all is well. I realized today that by getting caught up in the busy-ness of it all I had forgotten the most important point—they are both fine! In fact, they are two of the healthiest folks at their ages that I know.

Add to this countless smaller blessings, such as my unemployed status allowing me to be available for them. From there the list goes on and on.

As a matter of fact, my list is filled with nothing but blessings. In the midst of the worst financial crisis in my lifetime, a potential career change, complete uncertainty regarding my future, I’m as happy as a clam. I hear my inner critic retorting-- yeah, happy and stupid!

So, at the beginning and/or end of the day, why not take a few moments to count your blessings? Gratitude opens the heart and gets us all moving together in the right direction. If this seems like just one more task, then start small. Day 1: acknowledge just one blessing, Day 2: acknowledge two…and so on until however many you want. Or, alternatively, you could just acknowledge one each day, or each time you think of it—like when you’re stopped at a red light or stuck in traffic. Eventually this will become second nature and you will be focused on your blessings so frequently that you will begin to live in a state of gratitude.

It’s pretty amazing how just one thought of gratitude is enough to shift the whole day in the direction of support and healing. Before you know it, you will literally get high from expressing your appreciation to others, which will in turn ripple out to affect a wider and wider group of people. Remember, this isn’t about putting on a fake happy face. This is about the truth of how we choose to live our lives.

Happy Blessings!