Blessings

It's hard to believe that another year has come and practically gone. With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, now is a good time to take a few minutes to acknowledge the many blessings I have received this year. Of course, there are too many to list, but here are some of the highlights:

1. A renewed relationship with Christ that is stronger and more personal than ever before, along with the support and encouragement of a new church family and friends.
   
2. A beautiful new nephew, Phillip ("PJ") to the family. He was adopted nearly 2 weeks ago, and ironically, was born one week before the sudden death of this would-be grandmother. It's ironic that when one soul leaves us, that another one often comes to ease the pain a bit.
3. A wonderful group of new friends who have provided me with more fun, support, encouragement and prayers than I could have imagined... Carolyn, Janeen, Carol, Corlis, Nim and Ann. And then there's Annalece who has helped many in so many ways on my journey to become the person that I want to be.
   
4. An even greater passion for knitting, including a fairly rapid transition from an average knitter to a pretty darn good one, with a huge stash to prove it!
   
5. New clients for my business, which of course means more $$$
   
6. Finding and being able to afford a private high school education for my daughter, which has made all the difference in her grades, her friendships, her self-esteem, and her overall attitude.
7. Making it through the the first two years of marriage (we've both been on our own for a long time and old habits are hard to break!) and knowing that we're going to make it.
8. A renewed appreciation for my extended family and finding opportunities to spend quality time with them (besides funerals).
9. Discovering Simple Abundance, A Course in Miracles, and Loving What Is, three books that are changing my life.
10. Surviving a harrowing breast cancer scare, finding that the tumors (which have been removed) were benign.
    

That said, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to officially acknowledge our blessings, but my on-going goal is to recognize and give thanks for daily blessings, both the big ones and the small ones, that are happening all the times. It's easy to get caught up in the drama du jour and focus on the negatives, but how much easier our lives would be if we could turn that around and really find the silver linings in those thunderclouds.

I read somewhere that we've generally been taught to deal with stressful times by taking a deep breath in a blowing all of that negative energy out. But just imagine what a world this would be if we took all the negative energy in, turned it around, put it in its proper perspective, saw only the truth and the lesson in each situation. If with an attitude of gratitude, we exhaled positive, uplifting, and loving energy. That is my personal goal, and my prayer, for the coming year. Care to join me?