Do you know how blessed you really are? When you think about the answer to this question I hear you say “yes, but”.
Yes but, I have no friends, yes but, I owe to my ears, yes but, my mother is dying of cancer, yes but, I am overweight, yes but, my son is a drug addict, yes but, yes but, yes But.
Do you know how blessed you are despite the yes butt? There is not a single person in this entire world who is free from difficulties and challenges. It is a part of our human existence. Instead of being grateful for all the blessings we have been given, it is incredibly easy to catch what is wrong in our lives.
I’m just as guilty as this. I am very impatient with life. I want what I want when I want. The problem with this is that I have trouble realizing where I am and what I have. I often think life is okay, but wait until I have this or that. Then my life will be beautiful.
I guess I understand? That “someday when” may never come. What a waste it would be to get to the end of my life and not fully see the gift, the blessing, the beauty, and the love without the veil of “this is not good enough yet”.
Of course, there are moments when I can be present and feel grateful, but they are too few and far too many. Today I was reminded by a dear friend that lives here and now and when life throws us lemons, we have to make lemonade!
The next step involves discouraging your cat from jumping over the people counter first. It doesn’t matter what words you use. Many are said to have been successful with certain types of tin cans filled with penis. You need to watch your cat carefully to prevent it from jumping over the storefront. When you’re ready to shake, shake the can! This will surprise your cat, and he will probably stop jumping at the counter.
The final and perhaps most important step in this process is to give the cat some other climb. You see, cats are climbing normally, so this behavior shouldn’t be discouraged. Consider taking him to play with those cat towers. You may want to hide this behavior somewhere.
This friend is also a sympathetic wife whose husband has been challenged by an illness that has recently forced her to move to a wheelchair. They returned from their first trip in a wheelchair. In his words, “Travel was very difficult; the world is not very accessible. As time goes on, we miss the wonderful things of travel and the struggle. Travel, like so many other things in the last two years, is changing for us.
Capable and life seems so full. In a different environment, it’s clear how much he lost. It opened up again for us, and we need some time to mourn. Now we know we have to travel smarter and travel like that. There is something that is no longer possible for us. Life is full of loss, but also of gifts. We have not lost how many gifts we have been given. I am grateful for every day together. “
It’s easy to forget that we are not alone, we are all one. We all face challenges at one time or another in our lives, but we are all on the same journey through life. We all have basically the same lessons. These are lessons of love, joy, forgiveness, and healing for ourselves and others. Sometimes, my challenges seem trivial compared to others, and other times they don’t, which is why we need others. Other people counter to act as a mirror of us and our own lives and help us learn. When we are unhappy because life does not seem fair to us for one reason or another, by being in a relationship with others we can remind ourselves that things are not so bad and that life can be so great.
After hearing from my friend, I am back in the present moment and in praise and gratitude. I have family, I have health, I have a career. Money is coming, there is food on the table and there are wonderful friends to share stories and laughter. I have people who love me and I love them. I have choice and freedom and a connection to the infinite source of love – a higher power. And, I’m lucky enough to be able to dream about where I want to be in my life and have the insight to put it in perspective.
There will always be someone in the world who is more painful or less fortunate than us. Send them blessings. There will always be others who seem to have it all and there will always be others who think you have it all. Send blessings to them too and then remember, whatever it is, we all have blessings and gifts to be grateful for, in life, we need to be reminded gently from time to time.
