Monday, March 29, 2010

Count Your Blessings

So I recently moved into a lovely little house. As a house warming gift, a friend of mine gave me a set of those cool vinyl letters that go on your wall. They say "Count Your Blessings". (It's funny, this friend is also the person who sent me an invitation to Gratitude e-mails. I love them!) Little does my friend know that when I was little, any time I didn't like something or complained about food or anything, my mother or grandmother would say to me - in a screechy voice - "Count your blessings!", and sometimes even go on about the poor starving children in Africa or elsewhere. I liked the practice. I actually did count my blessings. My family and friends, my toys, the fact that I had food. Even if it was not something I wanted to eat, at least I had something. When I opened that box and saw that saying, I just heard my grandmother's admonishing voice, felt her finger shaking, telling me to be grateful. Well, I am.  It may have taken a lot of work but I am truly grateful for all I have. As a kid, I thought my mom and grandma were just being mean, telling me I was being a bad kid. If they were looking to shame me, they sure did. Now I finally get it. Gratitude is one of the most precious gifts we can give our children, and ourselves. It gives us some sense of solidity when we feel as though the rug has been pulled from under us. Even though such-and-such is happening and that's hard, scary, expensive, sad, difficult...  we can sit back and see that there is still a lot to be thankful for. So I'm reclaiming that saying. No longer will it remind me of being shamed or feeling guilty. I know that counting my blessings may very well be the most important part of my spiritual practice. As I think we could all do with a little gratitude, go forth and count YOUR blessings too!

7 comments:

  1. Congratulations and I wish you love, luck and light at your new place. I'm moving too. I was actually moving yesterday, but New York is being rained on since yesterday and it won't stop until Wednesday. I can't wait to get to my new place and gather my spiritual clarity too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the reminder, gratitude, as you pointed out, is the most important part of any spiritual practice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good luck in your new home, Magaly! When you're moving, you can get caught-up in the physical. Once things settle down, you'll definitely gather you spiritual clarity.
    Thanks Aine. One of the things I'm grateful for is your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello. I spotted you over at Aine's blog. Looks like you have a lot of interesting things to share. I totally understand your feelings about the state of the world - you're not alone, trust me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Namaste.. I found you at Aine's. Thank you for the reminder of 'Counting your blessing'
    We are all blessed in different ways... the thing we need to be aware of it but most of us are not.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm always counting my blessings no matter how bad a day is there is something to be thankful for. Living in the Florida Keys now 14 years I'm thankful everyday to live here. I find beauty here on a continual basis. I see the tourists and visitors come here and spend lots of money, maybe even a life savings for a week here in paradise. I count my blessings and think "I get to live here" I never get tired of the same Ocean or Same Gulf I see every day. The same palm trees, vegetation. There is always a flower in bloom, some cool plant growing. The awesome sunrises/sunsets, incredible skies that get painted.

    At home I have 4 legged children that love unconditionally and are the most beautiful dogs one could imagine. Have a roof over my head, a vehicle that works and drives. So many things to count that I'm thankful for.

    Kev H
    Key Largo, Fl

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks to everyone for stopping by! I'm really learning that gratitude can and should be the most important part of any spiritual practice. Kev, it's great that you appreciate the beauty of nature so much. We so often overlook that majesty! It's so true that we're not aware. It sometimes takes crisis in other places for us to remember what we should be grateful for! Every day we are so fortunate to live in homes and have loved ones and food to eat. It's amazing the myriad ways in which people live on this planet. I know that I have a very easy life compared to some. Because of that, I want to learn to help in some way. I have so many opportunities that many don't. There must be some work that I can do that will help bring about some balance in this crazy, beautiful place.

    ReplyDelete