Courtesy Google Images

Posted by Shellene

Life is not perfect. There are many things that I wish I had – more money, a bigger house, did I mention more money? I would love to be independently wealthy and not have to get up every day to go to work. I would love to write the Great Canadian novel and get paid well for doing it… but that’s not in the cards right now.

While no one’s life is perfect, we often spend a lot of our time worrying about what we don’t have instead of remembering what we do have.

I’m so guilty of this.

I’m not downplaying my life challenges – some days are hard. Sometimes I wonder, “Lord, why me?” I have friends who are struggling to find employment, have health issues, are looking for love, and it’s hard. We all have crap that we’re dealing with.

But every so often, I’m reminded that I’m blessed – even with my not-so-perfect life. Turn on your TV and watch what’s happening in the world. There are famines, riots, disease, and worse that people are dealing with. My life isn’t perfect, but I have a roof over my head and I know where my next meal is coming from. I have clean running water and, if I get sick, I have a hospital that I can go to.

Some people say, “whatever, Shellene, it’s easy to tell me to count my blessings – my life sucks right now.”

I agree. It’s not easy to choose to see the positive in life. It’s a lot easier to get bogged down in the misery and sadness of what you don’t have or what you’re struggling with, but I have to ask you: what’s the point?

What’s the point of constantly focusing on what you don’t have – when, truthfully speaking, you’ve been blessed with so much? No one’s saying not to acknowledge when life sucks – that would just be silly. Recognize the bad, but don’t forget the good.

Some days you just have to get through – all you can do is put one foot in front of the other. On those days, you just pray for strength to get through. But on the days that life isn’t perfect, but it’s manageable, count your blessings and remember you have a choice. You can choose to let yourself be miserable and waste a day that you’ve been blessed with, or you can choose to focus on the positives: air in your lungs, friends and family, your sanity or your health.

Advertisement