“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.” — C.S. Lewis
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“To be grateful is to find blessings in everything,” says Alan Cohen, author of several inspiration books, including the best-selling The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. “This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.”
Dana Arcuri, author of Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity: A 50-Day Devotional, agrees. “Cultivating an attitude of gratitude begins with counting your blessings,” she writes. “In simpler terms, gratitude is expressing thanks for gifts we receive. Genuine gratitude helps us to see the little things in life that are often overlooked, yet so precious.”
More often than not, we look at the things which others have and ask ourselves why we don’t have those. Jeff Dixon, the man behind The Key to the Kingdom, reminds us: “Sometimes we focus so much on what we don’t have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!”
I know trees cannot talk. What if they are given the opportunity to talk with us? I am sure they have so many stories to tell. Listen to one of those trees talking:
“When I was young, I didn’t notice it. But later on, I began to realize how different I was. I was short and crooked and all out of shape while around me stood those tall stately pines and those long-branched acacia trees. I should tell you, though, that I am hanging here onto the side of a cliff and my few roots are twined around the top of a stone.
“I often dreamed of being big and beautiful, with the wind bending me to and fro and the showers of rain washing my leaves. But here on the cliffside I felt so small, the wind didn’t often blow through my branches. Even the sun only warmed me for half a day and then it left me in the shade of my cliff and shone down on those majestic trees in the valley.
“Why did I have to stay here, hanging onto a cliff? I did not have enough soil to develop all the beauty inside me. I was dissatisfied with my lot in life. Why did I have to stand here and be like this?
“Then early one spring morning, the perfume from all the new meadow flowers wafted up to me, a tiny bird warbled its song from my branches, and the first warm sun rays kissed me long before they ever got down into the valley. What a beautiful panoramic view I had from up here. No other tree down there could see as far as I could.
“From that day on, I began to realize that I was something special. I was a special kind of tree made for a special kind of place. None of those big beautiful trees could do what I am doing. Why did it take me so long to realize that?”
A wise man once said, “Your presence is a present to the world. You are unique and one of a kind. Your life can be what you want it to be. Take the days just one at a time. Count your blessings, not your troubles. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.”
“Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some,” wrote Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings.
The Daily Motivator also affirms, “No matter what kind of troubles you may have, just think of how fortunate you are to be alive and living in a world where almost anything is possible. Consider for a moment the good things you have, and the good things that you can accomplish through your willingness, determination and action.”
God never promises that a day is always beautiful. There are days that it may be dark but you have to see the brighter side to appreciate it. Remember the Persian saying? It said, “I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.”
Once there was a poor widow who had two sons. This widow’s livelihood depended entirely upon her sons’ meager little businesses because she was so weak and frail. Every day, she worried about their businesses. She fretted and hoped that they would do well.
One son sold umbrellas. So the mother would wake up in the morning and the first thing she would look to see was if the sun was shining or if it looked like it was raining. If it was dark and cloudy, she would gleefully say, “Oh, he will surely sell umbrellas today!” But if the sun was shining, she would be miserable all day, because she feared that nobody would buy her son’s umbrellas.
The widow’s other son sold fans. Every morning the poor old widow would arise and look to the skies. If the sun was hidden and it looked like a rainy day, she would get very depressed and moan, “Nobody’s going to buy my son’s fans today.”
No matter what the weather was, this poor old widow had something to fret about. If the sun was shining, she felt terrible because nobody would buy her son’s umbrellas. If the sun was not shining and it was cloudy, she also felt terrible, because nobody would buy her other son’s fans. With such an attitude, she was bound to lose.
One day, she ran into a friend who said, “Why, you’ve got it all wrong. There’s no way you can lose. If the sun is shining, people will buy fans; if it rains, they’ll buy umbrellas. You love off both of your sons. You cannot lose!”
How true. “Always embrace and cherish the blessings that come with each day and let its negative experiences vanish with the past that today is soon to become,” Edmond Mbiaka points out. “God has some great plans for your future. So never seize to keep your faith and hope alive and strong. Your current circumstances aren’t the final chapters of your life.” — ###
