Blessings (Part 1)

Blessings (Part 1)

Jeremiah 17:7, 8 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Usually we count our misfortunes instead of counting our blessings. We take life for granted and forget to live our lives the way we should with peace, contentment, and free will from God.

Before our fleeting life takes away from us what we fail to appreciate, we need to change our mindsets. Instead of attaching ourselves to the thinking that we need to keep adding to our life, we need to embrace the mindset that what we already have is quite enough. We need to learn how to started appreciating and stop taking things in your life for granted.

-First and foremost, we need to learn how to live in the present.

They say that the past is full of tears and the future is full of fears. This couldn’t be more correct. To truly stop taking the things in our life for granted we need to stop living in the past, thinking about our regrets and missed opportunities.

The same goes for our thoughts about the future. When thinking of the future, we tend to be consumed in what should and shouldn’t happen, all the time forgetting, that many of the things we’ll experience will not be in our control. The happiest of people make it a point to “live in the present.” Only then can we truly started noticing the things around us and appreciating what we have.

-Secondly, embrace your surroundings.

Unfortunately, thanks to technology and media we have naturally forgotten to embrace our surroundings. We embrace what’s displayed on our screens more than we embrace our surroundings. As a result we lose sight of what’s important. That includes our families, the work we do, the friends we love, the good things we experience, and the things we have.

Make it a habit to be conscious of your surroundings. First embrace the big things such as your family, home, job, friends, church, and your peers. Then start embracing the small things like the food you eat, the senses you have, the water that comes out of your faucets, the clothes you wear, comforts of home, and where you live.

Ask yourself the following questions:

(1) What did I do to have this and others don’t?

(2) What makes life so special to me?

(3) How did all this come into being?

Your answers to these questions will reveal how much you have been taking for granted. You must have a lot that many others can only dream of having. You probably wouldn’t enjoy it either if this blessing was taken away from you. Also, every single person, relationship, or object takes a lot time, effort, and hard work to be made.

-Thirdly, help others

Helping others will make you realize that there is so much that you should be grateful for.  This doesn’t only mean offering help to churches or charities, although that is a large part of it. You should also help your friends, family members, or even a stranger as the Bible says. With that help, not only will you realize that you are lucky to be able to serve those in need, but you will also be left a fulfilling feeling that will make you see beyond yourself and your materialistic desires.