Counting your Blessings

Today at lunch I was looking on facebook like always and I saw a friends post on how everything that could, had gone wrong for her.  Now who hasn't had a day like that?  I have had several days that I can recall thinking I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed and sleep until the next day.  There used to be times that I did just that.

Over a year ago I started to make a change in my life.  I started to become negative because of people and things that were going on in my life.  I had to take a big step back and start doing things for myself and not worry about how others felt.

I looked deep into myself and realized that not everything was bad in my life. There were several things in my life that were good that I didn't even see.  Things I took for granted, people I took for granted. Instead of looking at the positive side I always looked at the negative. 

It wasn't until after I started my year and a day that I realized what I needed to do to change.  What I needed to do to stay happy, or at least half way stay happy.  I had to look for the positive in everything I did and everything that was around me. 

For example with the tornado in Moore, OK.  I could look at that and only see the sadness and devastation.  Instead I look at how even though there was loss of life, it could have been much worst.  There might have been several homes destroyed but neighbors worked together to find pets and a child's blanket and even the smallest thing that could mean the world to a person. 

I choose to watch the stories on the news of great joy and happiness even when something so horrible happens.  That is what gets me through the day. 

I saw an interview with a woman who was happy and was laughing.  She had lost just about everything she owned but yet she was still happy.  Why?  Because her and her husband were alive.  Their neighbors who they helped get into their shelter were alive.  She can rebuild and she said they probably will stay in the same area too.  She was looking at the positive side of everything and that is how we all should be. 

It's not always easy to do at times.  There will always be people at your job, on the highway while you are driving, at the store, even your own family that will try to bring you down.  You need to rise above them and still count your blessings.  Think of what truly is important in your life and that will get you though your day.