Count your blessings, see richness in life
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praise worthy - think on such things."
- Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
A few weeks ago, I almost lost a good friend. It made me stop and think about the wonderful times I spent with this old friend. I'm glad I've enjoyed my time with her while she is here, and am now mindful to appreciate her more than ever.
Oftentimes, we don't realize what we had until we don't have it anymore.
Why is that?
I think it's because we don't do enough to count our blessings. We get too bogged down in looking at the problems rather than the good that remain. We think in order to be thankful, we have to wait until everything in our lives is perfectly in place.
Other times, we think that counting our blessings for everyday things sounds too simplistic. But if we really stop and count each individual one, we may be surprised how rich our lives really are.
Each day we should be thankful to hear the sounds around us, to speak with clarity, and have sight to see the wonders of nature. Even if some of these senses are missing, we can be thankful we still have the others.
Some of our most basic things, such as favorite friends, caring parents, and activities we enjoy, are a few things worth giving thanks for. Maybe you don't have any of these. Have you ever just made a list of the basic things in your life? It's a good place to start.
Being thankful for what we have doesn't mean we don't want things to get better. On the contrary, I believe it opens the heavens to release better things our way. It cleanses our weary souls of the blahs and the blues.
Scripture says to think about what is pure, lovely and good. I think the apostle was using this message to encourage us to count our blessings.
Whenever we're feeling sorry for ourselves, we need to write a mental list of all we have to give thanks for. That will help us keep our focus on what we do have, instead of what's missing.
As I mull over my blessing list, I realize there's many things that go unnoticed to be thankful for in my life.
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She is available to speak to your church group or business or be your personal coach. Contact her at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413, or visit annetteebudzban.com.