Counting Blessings

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing that you think about? Do you groan, roll over and hit “snooze”? Do you cover your head up with the blankets and wish it was the weekend? Or do you jump out of bed with a spring in your step, feeling happy to be live and excited about your next opportunity to spread a little sunshine? I would like to think that, most days, I choose the latter but like everyone, I have those moments where staying in bed has seemed like the best option compared to whatever negative circumstance I felt I had to face that day.

The truth is that bad things happen to good people and it isn’t easy to pick sense out of it all. Having faith that all is as it should be can be very difficult during sorrowful times and it is even necessary to have a good cry and get the grief out of your system in order to let the light shine again and embrace the potential of the future. One of the most powerful lessons I have learned in recent years is that of GRATITUDE. When I start my day thinking of all the great things in my life, it invariably sets a positive tone for the rest of the day and lands me in an excellent spot for processing whatever comes my way. One of the bedtime rituals I started with my children when I was first living on my own with them was to ask when I was tucking them in: “What was your favorite part of the day today?” This question often developed into a conversation about events that happened – goo d and bad – at daycare or school, but the key was that it got them thinking about how they spent their day and what good there was to be found. Our conversation would always end with a reminder to be grateful for all the blessings that we have.

Practicing this with my children was a great tool for me, again, especially in the early years after the divorce when I wanted to make them feel safe and secure in a new environment. Regardless of how the evening at home had gone with them – homework, activities, and baths often requiring more patience than I could summon after working and studying all day – this bedtime ritual of gratitude always brought me into the present moment and melted away any shadow of a doubt that I was where I was meant to be and that I have many, many blessings to celebrate.

Just yesterday, a fire claimed most of my colleague’s home and her family’s possessions. The newspaper headline stated: Couple counts their blessings. While I have been thinking grateful thoughts on a regular basis and particularly this week , this story reminded me that in every tragedy we can still find faith and recognize that the gifts in our lives are not material things but the people in them and the contribution we choose to make in this world. One of my greatest blessings is this Lesson Learned.