Count Your Blessings

Life is a blessing. There are moments in each life when it may be hard to remember that, but they should be moments only, not the general order of things. Krishnamurti said that “it is no measure of mental health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society,” which is true enough, but society, singly or taken together, is only a small portion of all that is. To be able to look at the stars at night and experience wonder is a blessing. To be able to see the beauty painted across the sky at sunrise is awe-inspiring. To hear the ocean’s roar, the bird’s song, the voice of a loved one fills the heart with intense pleasure. To perceive the incredible intricacy of the design of nature fills the soul with indescribable joy. To have a life, a body with the eyes, ears, nose, and mind to take in and appreciate these things is a tremendous gift, one that we often take for granted until it appears we may not have it much longer. Whatever our pain, our burdens, our torments, if we could but step back a moment and view them within the context of this gift of precious life, the heaviness would be lifted, our burdens more bearable, our torments transitory. Our very breath is a miracle of life. The organism that houses our spirit is a vehicle of such grand design that our minds can barely conceive its scope. The universe is so vast and complex we may never be able to measure its depth or breadth. Yet, how often do we pause in the mad rush of our days to simply look around, to drink in the blueness of the sky, to breath the greenness of the trees into the cells of our own being, to allow wonder, awe, and amazement to fill our senses? When the golden eagle soars overhead, do our spirits soar with him? When the wind sculpts the land, do we admire her artistry? When the rain pours down to quench our thirst and bring lushness to the land, do we offer thanks? How many times do we drive to work, cursing the rain, never seeing the green trees changing to their fall dress, oblivious to the soaring eagle overhead, lost in thoughts of what we have to do, what we shouldn’t have done, or what we wish we could get out of? Our lives are a precious gift, and we are each blessed with a bounty of experiences that this life has afforded us. Even those things that plague us today will in time become the backdrop which showcases the brighter moments of our lives in the way the storm cloud frames the rainbow. How many times has the passage of time shifted our perspective, and a perceived tragedy become the ‘best thing that could have happened?’ So take the moments, good and bad, and savor them, bank them up, and count your blessings.