Be Thankful

I am sad to see the death tolls of the COVID19 rising to over 15,000 at the time of this writing.

The world is trying to cope with this crisis, some countries have with more challenges than others. It will be a while before things get better but I hope we don’t have to wait too long.

My heart goes out to those whose loved ones are taken away from them so abruptly.  Let’s pray that they stay strong as they grieve and heal their hearts over time.

While I can’t help with what had already happened, I can choose to be thankful.

Merits of gratitude

Studies have shown that the practice of gratitude can boost our immune systems. Isn’t that just what we need against the irritating virus?

I don’t know about you but I managed to discover things I am thankful for every day…

Here are just some of the things I am thankful for:

• Waking up every morning
• Breathing and feeling the air fill my lungs
• Being able to see, hear, move and feel
• Having loved ones in my life
• Sleeping in a warm bed and having a roof over my head
• Having the opportunity to encourage someone
• Finding a parking lot, and so on

What can you be thankful for?

Counting our blessings

Some advocate keeping a gratitude journal to write down a list of positive events at the close of a day — and why the events made them happy.

This brings to mind the song “My favorite things” from the movie “The Sound of Music”:

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings and when I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

I think it works the same way for us when we start counting our blessings, and start to be thankful for even the smallest things.