Counting
Our Blessings
“I
found it possible to love my life in ways that had never occurred to
me before. I never thought I could value being able to walk around my
house and look out all the windows. I never thought of the brickwork
on the building where I worked as beautiful before, or the sound of
people laughing on the sidewalk outside as welcome signs of life.”
Barbara
Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World)
Barbara
Brown Taylor records these feelings of gratitude for the ordinary
between the time that she was given a difficult diagnosis, and when
surgery was scheduled to remove the problem. Somehow, in the
aftermath of life-changing events, we grow new eyes. Suddenly we see
how miraculous our life is and why we love it so much. I have a Neil
Young CD, Prairie Wind, that was written and recorded during the two
weeks between his diagnosis with a brain aneurysm and the surgery to
correct it. Every song is one of gratitude for his life and all the
people and opportunities that had come his way. Taylor describes
these as “wide-open spaces”, when we live in a different world
than we did when we thought we were fine.
I'm
sure the same sort of thing happens to our vets when they come home
from war zones and to the families who welcome them back. They
realize more than ever how much they have to be grateful for. A close
shave with death gives us broader vision, wider insight, gratitude
for what is typically just normal. Life is suddenly more intense and joyful. More
precious.
We
don't have to wait for a diagnosis or other life changing event to
experience new eyes. We can do it right here, right now. We can
change the trajectory of our day simply by listing five things that
we are thankful for. We can walk around our home and identify five
simple blessings that make our hearts sing. We can drive around town
and notice beauty in the most unremarkable places. We can name five
people who enrich us just by being part of our lives.
One
way to change a sad day into a happy one, is to count all the
goodness that exists in your life right now. And say, thank you.
In
the spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment