Counting life's blessings (1)

I thought I had won the lottery last week!  Well, not the actual lottery, but my own lottery-equivalent.  You know the thing that you desire the most and think will change your life?...For some it might be a job, a traveling opportunity, a family blessing, or an actual lottery win!  Well, I came within a hair’s breadth of mine last week but sadly it slipped just out of reach, timing all wrong I am guessing. 

What do you do when you have to pick yourself up from such disappointment?

Our first lesson to live this month is ‘Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good’.  Pretty appropriate given the week I had last week, or possibly quite challenging when all you want to do is hide in a heap and feel sorry for yourself!  But despite how I might be feeling, I cannot escape the fact that I have so many other things to be grateful for in my life, and when I stop to reflect on them they out-run my disappointment by a mile. 

As I laid in bed last night thinking of this first post I remembered visiting the Grand Canyon years ago.  Last week I felt like I had fallen from the edge, rolled down the rocky cliff side and landed in a heap at the bottom of the canyon.  This week, I am able to pick myself up and realise despite being at the bottom, I am surrounded by beauty that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.  The view can be just as beautiful from below if we have the grace to see past the fall.  

This month our challenge is to face our disappointments, stresses and strains with grace.  Every time we feel that it is all a little too much, just pause and try to find just one thing in your life that you are grateful for - remind yourself of all the good stuff!  As difficult as it may sometimes be, celebrating our fortunes is so much more uplifting than being overwhelmed by our disappointments.