Recognising our Blessings

The Festive Season is over. Most of us in the wealthier nations have spent much energy and finances celebrating this time of the year in opulence and hopefully in joy as well.

During a chat I was having with a close friend of mine on Christmas day, she told me how sad it was that so many young people were complaining (online) that they did not get the presents they had asked for, i.e. wrong type of mobile phone, tablet and other electronic gadgets. So we shared our thoughts on how we indeed overlook what we already have, (let alone be thankful for it) and also how very, very fortunate we are to live in a part of the world that basically lacks nothing.

This lovely friend also told me that before she drafts a list of resolutions for the New Year, she first writes a list of all the things she is grateful for, for the year just gone by, recognising her blessings.

Building on this beautiful concept, I believe that recognising our blessings is an activity that we should indulge in every day, starting by saying ‘thank you’ that we are waking up every morning, so that we can continue our journey on Planet Earth, and simultaneously be a blessing to others.

We take most of the things, people and happenings in our lives for granted, that we hardly ever say thank you for any of them, but we very swiftly grumble and moan if anything is not aligned with our wishes and expectations!

When have you said ‘thank you’ for the food you eat every day, for the fresh air that you can breathe through healthy lungs, the sun you can see with 20/20 vision or even through glasses, feel the wind on your skin because you are free to take a walk outside? Are you thankful for the people in your lives, who love you and whom you love, and also for the ones who brush you up the wrong way ­- teachers in disguise -? Are you grateful for your good health, your freedom to choose anything in your life, your capacity to read and write, to be able to study, to buy a book, a cup of coffee and a sweet treat whenever the fancy takes you?

Every single one of us should stop and take stock of the true blessings we really have in our lives. Yes, we may feel blessed to have material comfort, but I feel that the most important blessings we overlook are in fact the invisible ones, listed above, and the list is of course endless.

I personally recognise how much I have been blessed in the last 10 years or so, by the way I have been led to reach a spiritual awareness that has enriched me with sacred divine knowledge and has instilled in me a boundless sense of inner freedom. I would readily and without hesitation relinquish all of my few material possessions to keep these blessings alive and growing in my life. And all my ‘thank yous’, that I say many times in a day, are mostly for non-visible things, happening in my own life or for things that I simply witness. Often, I say ‘thanks’ silently to the bus driver who waits for an elderly passenger to reach the bus stop, or waits for a frail person to be seated safely before driving off again. I say ‘thanks’ when I witness acts of kindness, or even just a smile, exchanged between people.

I find so many reasons to say ‘thanks’ because nothing should be taken for granted ever. Our recognition of these blessings is in fact a fount of rejuvenation for us; they affirm our awareness, our aliveness as we go about our day, and our years on Planet Earth. Saying ‘thanks’ for any little thing pours a divine melody in our hearts, a spring in our step and a smile on our faces. It certainly drowns our tendency to moan and grumble, when truly we, living in nations of opulence, have nothing to moan about!

I would like to invite you to partake in a beautiful way to recognise the many blessings in your life: take the time to read the book listed below and like the author, you may feel, after turning the last page that you never, absolutely never again will want to complain about anything in your life! This story has fuelled my stand even more to say ‘thank you!’ for totally everything!! How about you?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messages-Life-Death-Pierre-Pradervand/dp/095493265X

You can also read about this story on this website: http://www.rogermcgowen.org/