It's all in how you look at it

As I sit here in front of my computer with my windows open on what is an absolutely amazingly beautiful day in Austin, Texas, I am surrounded by things that represent me, things that I love, things that are precious to me...my kids, my dogs, my house, all the pictures and toys and furniture and paint spots on the floor from my dear 2 year old son...my life. I am truly blessed. More than that, I am filled with a fullness that just can't be described in words. It's a fullness that makes my heart sing for joy and for the love of life. Even during this time of economic hardship, somehow I still feel so blessed without a worry in mind. Sounds odd, but that's me. This is probably because I am just not a worrier, I never really have been, and hopefully never will be. I am a very deep thinker on many levels, but not a worrier. My life has always been filled with abundance, true abundance of God, love, happiness, joy, as well as disapointment, loss, pain. My life has been filled with so many blessings that I could never count them all. I would call some of them miracles, every day miracles. It's really all in how you look at it.

A story in Chicken Soup for the Soul that I read a long long time ago will always stick in mind on this subject. Brief synopsis...a family arrives home from long road travels with much of their prized possessions and clothing inside their van. They decided to wait until morning to unpack being tired and just wanting some sleep. They wake in the morning to find their van gone, along with many of their prized and special belongings. The mother says, "Well, we can be really angry and upset and in rage that it's gone, or we can choose not to be...either way, our van is still gone." It's so simple, yet so hard. Sometimes our emotions grab a hold of us and we may have to talk to them back down, it's not easy. For some reason, this little story had a very profound meaning for me and from that point forward things just didn't seem so hard. Now, this is not to say that I wouldn't feel these emotions in the same circumstance, but I have the ability to quickly gather myself and realize what's done is done and it's how we deal with it and move forward that is my choice, anyone's choice.