Appreciate the Small Blessings!

Last week, when the election results were in and President Obama was re-elected, there was an unbelievable amount of negative posting on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, saying how this country was going downhill, that people were going to be destitute, that people were voting for free stuff, the death of a nation, et cetera. Judging by the voting numbers, I can confidently say the same thing would have happened by supporters of the president, had Mitt Romney won. While I may been happy with some election results and disappointed with some defeats this election (it's not all about the president - but local and state issues as well), I have learned over my lifetime that no one party in power has made a difference in my way of living. While the last four years were the most difficult that I can recall, life still went on. I made adjustments. However, I spent a lot of time wallowing in the problems and how they affected me, rather than take the more proactive approach, which was being grateful for what I did have. This enabled me to get out of the funk that was holding me back, and allowed me to become more focused on the positive, which is what I'm doing now!

That being said, this is the time of the year where we take the time to appreciate the blessings in our lives, big or small! Unfortunately, the holidays are a time where millions of people suffer their greatest periods of depression, something I can absolutely relate to. One of the greatest things that I've learned through my challenges is that gratitude gets me through a lot of difficult times and allows me to move from a destructive frame of mind to a creative and constructive frame of mind. If you struggle with depression or thoughts of negativity, take about ten minutes a day (or a few times a day as you are able - the TV can wait) to begin to activate your gratitude by acknowledging ten things to be thankful for. If you have difficult coming up with ten things, here are ten things for which we can all be appreciative:

• If you have relationship with God, you are blessed! (This is my personal belief and the most important to me). If not, be happy to know that God is very real and loves you and wants to have a relationship with you!    
• If you have friends and family, consider yourself blessed. 
• If you live in the United States or Canada, there are nineteen other people who live in other parts of the world. 
• If you have a job in these economic times, consider yourself blessed. If you’re underemployed or without a job, but are managing to make it in spite of your situation, consider yourself blessed that you’re not going under for now. It'll get better. This I know from experience! 
• If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes in your closet and a roof over your head, you are better off than 75 percent of the world’s population. 
• If you eat three meals a day, you are far better off than the one billion people on the planet who eat once a day at most. 
• If you have utilities that work regularly, such as clean water and dependable power, you are fortunate. 
• If you have a car that allows you to run errands or go to work, look at the guy at the bus stop sitting there when it's hot or cold. If you're the guy on the bus stop, be thankful that you have access to transportation or perhaps friends that can give you a lift in a pinch. 
• If you're healthy, you are indeed blessed! If you're not, are you able to do something about it? If you're able to exercise for weight or back problems, or if you can treat your ailments without having to go to the doctor, such as taking ibuprofen and aspirin, you have what would be a luxury in other parts of the world. Did you know that if you don't have insurance, there are ways to see a doctor for low cost or get medications for less than what people pay with their copays? 
• Are you able to read this? If so, that means that you have a computer and internet access to stay in touch with the world, or have access to education, or even perform work for which you are paid. This is a big one for me! 

If you can celebrate these simple blessings, it'll be easy to think of ten more things to be thankful for!

John

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