There's an old hymn that says "Count your blessings. Name them one by one." We've recently celebrated Thanksgiving and before October is out, I want to encourage you to make 'counting your blessings' or practising gratitude, a daily habit, not a once-a-year-on-the-second-weekend-of-October thing! Being thankful for what we have and not focusing on what we may not have, makes for an attitude that can help us get through almost anything. I'm not talking about 'denial' where we try to reconstruct reality. I'm referring to genuine gratefulness for all that we have. I'm thinking of the biographies of Terry Waite (the British humanitarian who was held hostage for six years in the Middle East, much of the time in solitary confinement, often chained to his bed), how thankful he was
for the little children's book and later a prayerbook he was allowed to keep: his only possession for many months; and of Corrie Ten Boom (a concentration camp survivor, thanking God for the lice that infested their barrack because it meant that the prison guards would leave them alone). I'm also thinking of how we are better off than about 3/4 of the rest of the world! So, for example, when you crawl into bed tonight...instead of worrying about whether you are going to get a good sleep, when your head hits the pillow be thankful for it (yes, the pillow)! And then be thankful for the blankets and the mattress, and the furnace etc. In other words, instead of comparing yourself to others who seem to have what you want, think of the many others in the world who have less than you. This is 'glass half-full' vs. 'glass half-empty' thinking. If you are not in the habit of practising this type of thinking, you just might be suffering mentally and emotionally. Again, I'm not talking about denial...if something is wrong in your life, minimizing it will not make it get better or go away. That will require some well-planned action steps. However, to make a daily practice of gratitude, try looking around you and finding several things that you can be thankful for. Take some deep breaths as you do this and you will feel stronger, less stressed, and a smile just might come to your face even on a difficult day!
