Counting your blessings

One of my favourite quotes goes like this-  We should be grateful to God that he doesn't answer all our prayers. Oh, so true! Sometimes when one of our prayers doesn't get answered we get angry with God. But then he has a reason for everything. A blessing denied may sometimes be a blessing in disguise. We often get as much as we deserve. Sometimes we don't, because it probably went to someone more deserving. Often we realize how fortunate we are when we see those who are less fortunate. It's like the poem about complaining you don't have shoes until you see a person with no legs!

I am one of those who starts of with a "Why me God!" but goes on to pause, reflect and then say "Thank you, it's me God!" Just the other day, my daughter jammed her index finger in between the doors at playschool. For no fault of her's, she suffered (it was some other kid who slammed the door). I was naturally upset to see her in pain. When we went to the doctor to get her wound dressed, I saw so many little ones with fractured arms, burns, broken legs. I immediately thanked God that her's was only limited to that! Besides, it's at times like this that I admire my little angel for her courage and patience. She cried over the wound, but not for long. Pretty soon she was back to her usual playful self. She even adapted to utilizing her bandaged hand for daily acts.

Such is life. Sometimes the worst brings out the best in us. Of course, some mishaps can be avoided. But that again is a lesson for the future- another thing we can be grateful for. I can also think of the time when I fractured my leg. My daughter was hardly three months old. It was a terrible experience. Getting operated for a second time in three months (first being when she was born). The feeling of being dependent on someone else even for the smallest and simplest of daily chores. It makes you so humble! What I learnt from it? The importance of family, the extent of love and patience my husband has towards me, my body which I take for granted so often and which I now take more care of.

I once read an inspiring write up about the importance of a second. It spoke about those people who were supposed to go to the World Trade Center on that ill-fated day but didn't. There was one person who spilt coffee on his shirt on the way to work and had to go back home to change. There was another lady who had to drop her son and another kid to school as the person who was supposed to do that didn't turn up. Many more that I can't recall right now. Can you imagine the magnitude of gratitude those people must be feeling? How many of us crib and grumble for something as minuscule as the strap of the sandal coming off while walking or our clothes getting torn to a stray nail coming out of the chair. Is that a huge thing? We curse and we complain that the entire day went bad. It could have been worse. But who has the time to stop and think. We are all a part of this circus called life and we all have departing trains to catch . Somewhere along the way we forget- to breathe the air, to count our blessings, to thank no matter for what!