Too blessed? Can there be such a thing?
Well, to help answer that, consider this: How fast can you name 10 blessings in your life?
Go on. Do it. I can wait.
The fact is, we get so comfort-able reciting the obvious list of “home, family, job, dog, etc.” that we overlook some other truly amazing blessings in our lives. Maybe it’s time to look beyond the apparent riches and find a gratitude attitude about less obvious treasures.
To help you, I’ve added a few more things to be thankful for in 2019:
Annoying People
One of the greatest gifts in life is a good friend to share your likes, dislikes and triple-chocolate desserts. But admit it. Your friends—bless them—usually like you despite your faults. They look beyond the character flaws and choose to appreciate your finer qualities, however deep they must dig for them sometimes. Your friends encourage you, support you, and forgive you, and you got to love them for that.
But seldom are they as honest with us as we deserve. People who annoy you, on the other hand, can be blessings in disguise.
Over the years I’ve found that, upon analyzing the irksome faults of annoying people, I catch glimmers of my own shortcomings. Perhaps the very reason they can get my dander up is because they show me my own irksome qualities, like the reflection off a fender of an oncoming truck.
Often when I find myself huffing about how “he keeps interrupting me like I don’t know what I’m doing”, I gasp in realization that I, too, will occasionally “correct” people—for “their own benefit”, of course. And when my head spins like a top because someone constantly one-up’s me or has to have the final word in a conversation, I find myself admitting that I also often play one-upmanship…just to make it clear that I have self-worth, too.
So, the next time you encounter one of the annoying people in your life, give them a big hug and thank them. If nothing else, you’ll leave them wondering what you put in your holiday cider.
Work Frustrations
We would all like to live in a world where our jobs are convenient, stress-free and fulfilling. But, as my mother used to say, “If jobs were that great, they wouldn’t have to pay you to work.”
So true. Working as an ER nurse can be exciting, enlightening and very rewarding. Few things are more satisfying than to finish a challenging shift and fist-pump, “Yes! Nailed it!”
While smooth-sailing shifts are easier on the orthopedic shoes, it’s the frustrating shifts that really test me. They send me scurrying to learn more, or practice more or go into problem-solve mode. Even the unsolvable frustrations—unreasonable patients, pointless policies, and equipment that grows feet and wanders off—teach me patience and tolerance. More importantly, they remind me that work is…well, work. As worthwhile and gratifying as it may be, being a nurse is only part of my life. Doing my best while at work is my ethical obligation. Leaving work at the workplace is an obligation to myself. Workplace dramas shouldn’t consume all my thoughts and energies, and certainly shouldn’t drag my attention away from the more important things in life.
Setbacks
One of my pet peeves in life is when things don’t go as planned—especially if I did everything right, asked the right questions to the right people and carefully followed all the steps as instructed. If you’ve resolved to take Spanish classes but gotten no farther than to enroll online because of conflicting schedules, you know what I mean.
If you’ve resolved to take Spanish classes but had to use the money for a root canal instead, then I’m preaching to the choir.
Even if the setback is my fault, like taking the wrong turn and arriving late to an appointment, I still get perturbed when it means that I will fall short of the perfection mile marker I set for myself. In my life, however, I’ve learned that falling short of my goal sometimes happens because I was meant to notice something along the way.
For example, there’s nothing like a total joint replacement to literally stop you in your tracks and give you a different outlook on your life. As someone who’s enjoyed adequately good health all my life (we all have our aches and pains) my world was rocked with an unexpected membership into the Titanium Hip Club this fall.
In the following weeks after the diagnosis and surgery, as I sat and toddled and gnashed my teeth over projects undone, I learned more than I ever knew I should know.
For starters, I learned how wonderful it is to simply stand up and walk. It’s like being a toddler again and learning that your feet are for more than just grabbing and swinging above your head. And speaking of rediscoveries, I learned that my toes down there are a lot farther away than when I was a kid.
I learned to be thankful for skilled surgeons in nearby hospitals—I didn’t have to walk three days to get to a clinic like in some of the poorer countries. I learned the joy of having people stop by just to check in on me and bring me “medicinal” chocolate. I learned how super-cozy a comfort blanket is when made by church youth.
And, I learned about the amazing miracle of healing.
It’s through many of my setbacks I’ve learned the most. Getting it right the first time is good, don’t get me wrong, but learning what’s wrong, and then how to solve it—or survive it—nearly always teaches a deeper lesson.
Tears
In this past year I lost the sweetest neighbor, Norma, and a most beloved dog, Zeus. For each, I cried. In fact, I sobbed. I waded through the sorrow and lamented for the huge hole left in my life.
Why in the world would I be thankful for this?
Because the grief reaffirmed how much I loved both of them. In the puddles of tears, I saw the reflections of the precious moments we spent together in friendship, laughter and joy. The tears were a way to honor them from the heart. The loneliness I felt after they departed helped propel me to find others and build new friendships. The universal nature of the sadness reminded me that we all have experienced sorrow and need a shoulder to dampen from time to time.
Giving thanks for all things
So, while I remain grateful for family, home, freedom and all the other blessings heaped high in my life, I don’t want to overlook the blessings in life that helped me grow the most. As the Scottish minister Robert Murray M’Cheyne noted about blessings nearly 200 years ago: God will either give you what you ask, or something far better.
Happy Thanksgiving…hope your home is filled with blessings and joy.