Right at the start I will grant you that there are indeed always a dozen or so things in every person’s life that could always be “a lot better” … Maybe you have too much stress at work and are longing for more ease or calm. Maybe you are ill or injured and are longing for more health or wholeness. Maybe you are struggling to make ends meet and are longing for more money or financial security. And maybe you are feeling hurt or alone and are longing for more companionship and love.

And I also realize that regardless of what is “missing” in your life, the last thing you want to hear is someone else telling you to be grateful for what you DO have — to “quit your whining” and “be thankful anyway”.

So I’m not going to do that here …

No, I’m not going to talk about the blessings that have already been showered over each & every one of you. I am not going to talk about the Beauty of Nature that surrounds you in each & every moment of your lives (including this one) … I’m not going to mention the friendships and the successes and the moments of joy & laughter that have regularly graced your life up to this very moment … And I’m not going to remind you that you are ALIVE — that you are conscious being living on a planet teeming with life.

Right at the start I will grant you that there are indeed always a dozen or so things in every person’s life that could always be “a lot better” … Maybe you have too much stress at work and are longing for more ease or calm. Maybe you are ill or injured and are longing for more health or wholeness. Maybe you are struggling to make ends meet and are longing for more money or financial security. And maybe you are feeling hurt or alone and are longing for more companionship and love.

And I also realize that regardless of what is “missing” in your life, the last thing you want to hear is someone else telling you to be grateful for what you DO have — to “quit your whining” and “be thankful anyway”.

So I’m not going to do that here …

No, I’m not going to talk about the blessings that have already been showered over each & every one of you. I am not going to talk about the Beauty of Nature that surrounds you in each & every moment of your lives (including this one) … I’m not going to mention the friendships and the successes and the moments of joy & laughter that have regularly graced your life up to this very moment … And I’m not going to remind you that you are ALIVE — that you are conscious being living on a planet teeming with life.

Nope … I’m not going to discuss those miracles at all. I’m not going to tell you to be grateful for what you do have … Rather, I’m here to tell you that you should choose to be grateful for what you don’t.

You see, even though your times of pain & lack are understandably distressing, and even though it is more than reasonable for you to long for things to “get better” when the are “bad”, the fact remains that these moments are the times of your greatest emPowerment — that you can use your times of lack to reap your greatest Wealth; that you can use your times of discord to feel your greatest Peace; that you can use your times of loneliness to know your greatest Love.

For it is nothing when we give much while having much …
… and it is everything to give even a little when we have but little.

It is nothing when we are nice to those who are treating us well …
… and it is everything to choose to be Kind to those who aren’t.

It is nothing when we reach out to strangers in times of fun & fellowship …
… and it is everything to touch other lives with gentleness in the moments we feel lost & alone.

Nope … I’m not going to discuss those miracles at all. I’m not going to tell you to be grateful for what you do have …
Rather, I’m here to tell you that you should choose to be grateful for what you don’t.

You see, even though your times of pain & lack are understandably distressing, and even though it is more than reasonable for you to long for things to “get better” when the are “bad”, the fact remains that these moments are the times of your greatest emPowerment — that you can use your times of lack to reap your greatest Wealth; that you can use your times of discord to feel your greatest Peace; that you can use your times of loneliness to know your greatest Love.

For it is nothing when we give much while having much …
… and it is everything to give even a little when we have but little.

It is nothing when we are nice to those who are treating us well …
… and it is everything to choose to be Kind to those who aren’t.

It is nothing when we reach out to strangers in times of fun & fellowship …
… and it is everything to touch other lives with gentleness in the moments we feel lost & alone.

“Happiness in life is not a matter of holding good cards,
but rather of playing our hand well when our cards are poor.”
~ inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson

Filed under: Practical Tips for Peace-full Living by Scaughdt