Saturday, June 21, 2008

Finding Blessings

Each day I try to take a look at my life and find a blessing in it. Something I find rough. Something that I find challenging. Something where I would never find a blessing before. This is a challenge. I find that by doing this I am working on changing my view point from glass half empty to glass half full. I never realized how hard that was to do. But being that it is hard to do, it is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. Each and every day I am finding that there are different blessings around me. Blessings that have always been there, but I have never noticed.

Each day I wake up to two beautiful smiling children. I am still tired and I don't want to get up. I have taken this as a burden. Now I am working to change this into a blessing. They are beautiful. They are happy to see me. They are refreshed and ready to start another day. I have food on my table. Taking the time to prepare can be rough, but the fact is that I am blessed to have food available. I am blessed to be able to make food that is good for myself and for my family.

Taking the time each and every day to find the blessings in my life is such a rewarding experience. It is so easy to take for granted what you have in front of you, but to take the time to see that it is a blessing, means so much more.

1 comment:

Scott White said...

hi Jenn... first time blog reader here. I received your Brightkite invite and of course a link to this blog post in BK.

Finding the blessings where none appear to exist is a challenge but one that gets easier to do as time goes on. Especially, when you couple it with a faith in God that continues to grow.

I am reminded of a friend of mine who always seemed to be, as you and I strive to be. Positive about most situations even when one shouldn't see the blessing.

He was stationed with me during the first gulf war (1991) and we came under some small arms fire from the Iraqi Red Guard. He was wounded in his left leg pretty badly but not life threatening.

We medivac'ed him out and sent him to Germany. I joined him there about 3 weeks later. His leg still healing but he was up and walking with assistance. He said, "Wow! I can walk! I still have my leg! It hurts, but it lets me know I still have my leg!".

About 6 months later I got a letter from him. They ended up having to take his leg just below the knee. His remark?

"I can still walk and my leg doesn't hurt anymore! What a wonderful blessing!"

This guy is an awesome inspiration to me personally. He is retired from the military now and spends his time giving motivational talks to High Schools and undergraduates at colleges and universities. His fees? Pay his bills for being there, donate $1000 to a veterans organization.

What a guy. What an outlook on life. And what a faith in God.

Thanks for posting this. Sorry for the long drawn out comment.