Count your Blessings

Reading time : 4 minutes

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - Eric Hoffer

Supposedly, Theodore Roosevelt was the first to say that ‘comparison is the thief of joy’. It is fair to say that few would argue with him, although it is a step further to manifest those principles in our lives.

 When we consider our circumstances and our instinct is to compare them with someone else’s, we put ourselves on a path toward developing a mindset which is not thankful for what it has. Following on from this, we are no longer able to focus on the blessings that are laid out before us, whilst the little things which constitute the bigger picture of our lives no longer seem like things to be thankful for.

If the point and incentive for comparing our lives is to drive us forward, arguably we achieve the reverse. The process leaves us drained and empty, not to mention potentially emotionally stunted toward the people around us. If we cannot be thankful for the things we have, how can we be fully thankful for the people we already know? How can be fully present and know how2behuman?

Granted, being thankful is more difficult for some, because some lives are harder than others. Imagine being told to count your blessings if you live in a perpetual warzone, or after having lost someone you loved?

But being thankful is not dependent on what we are facing, but rather on the mindset we allow. It is the act of fighting for joy over allowing your mind to descend that which isn’t. Even if things are tough, we need not make it inescapable by focusing on that which keeps us down. If our circumstances are imprisoning, there is little sense in incarcerating our mind simultaneously. Counting our blessings is an art and act of spiritual gratitude – one which we will be immeasurably blessed by.