Entries Tagged 'Gratitude' ↓

My Dad sent this to me today and I thought I would share it here…it’s a great reminder of how we should keep our lives in perspective and be grateful for what we have rather than complain about what we lack.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.

My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.” I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section. The angel then said to me, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.”

I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. “This is the Acknowledgment Section,” my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed “How is it that? There’s no work going on here?” I asked.

“So sad,” the angel sighed. “After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.

“How does one acknowledge God’s blessings?” I asked.

“Simple,” the angel answered. “Just say, “Thank you, Lord.”

“What blessings should they acknowledge?” I asked.

“If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep … you are richer than 75% of this world. “If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

“And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.”

Also …..

“If you woke up this morning with more health than illness …. you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. “If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation … you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.

“If you can attend a church meeting without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death . you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.

“If your parents are still alive and still married .. you are very rare.

If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you are unique to all those in doubt and despair.”

Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are. Attn: Acknowledge Dept.: Thank You Lord! “Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people to share it with.”

Cheers,
Brendan

P.S. Get an immediate download of your FREE copy of Enlightenment and the Meaning of Life by clicking here.

In The Sound Of Music, Maria, played by Julie Andrews, had it all wrong when she sang “My Favorite Things” to her frightened Von Trapp family charges. You remember the song right? It begins “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” She basically tells the children to think pleasant thoughts when they’re feeling sad or scared. Although simplistic, this is all very well and good for children. But what most adults today need is a completely different perspective on what to consider our “favorite” things. We have a tendency to minimize our blessings and exaggerate our problems. We particularly don’t know how to put our problems in perspective. They are almost always seen as great tragedies that are usually someone else’s fault. We need to remember that we always have the ability to control how we react to a situation and that all “negative” situations are opportunities in disguise. For example, do you have to lose your temper when your child doesn’t clean up his room? Is it his fault if you do? No. It’s an opportunity for you to practice tolerance and patience while at the same time being firm and asserting your authority as a parent. Do you have to whine and complain whenever your boss loads you with work? Is it her fault if you do? No. It’s an opportunity for you to practice competence and wisdom while you also recognize your part in the service to humanity no matter how “small”.

So let’s look at our so-called problems, annoyances and grievances in a whole new way. They’re not as horrible as they seem to be. In fact they are usually ideally suited to help you improve yourself. Remember you can control yourself. You can dictate how you’ll handle a situation. You always have a choice. You should always strive to find the best of any problem and put it in a larger perspective. Look at them as opportunities to be loving, kind, wise, compassionate, tolerant, peaceful, cheerful, patient, strong, forgiving and beautiful!

With this in mind below is my version of “My Favorite Things”. As you read this imagine that it’s a dark stormy night and you’re cuddled-up on a bed under the quilt with a young Julie Andrews as she’s singing these words sweetly in your ear. You know the tune.

“My Favorite Things - Revised”

Lazy fat husbands and sudden flat tires

Barks from the bosses and teens that are liars

Gas prices rising like rockets with wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Long traffic jams and money that’s tight

Know-it-all friends and the delayed air flight

Wives that complain and have wild mood swings

These are a few of my favorite things

Blockbuster movies that have no good plot

Computers that crash from the spam that’s a lot

Old politicians with BS that flings

These are a few of my favorite things

Clogs in the gutters and weeds high as maize

Misguided Muslims and bad hair days

Work that won’t quit with the phone’s constant rings

These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog plays

When the bird sings

When I’m feeling glad

I also remember my “favorite” things

And they don’t make me feel so bad

Be grateful for everything and be sure to Love Life…ALL of it!