Do you realize how much time we spend feeling sorry for ourselves? I’d never really thought about it before…but women especially, spend a lot of time feeling sorry for themselves. Part of it, I think, is because we are emotional beings. Part of it might come from the fact that we are social beings. So when we feel we’ve been wronged, an injustice has occurred, etc. we talk a lot about it and we expect others to talk a lot about it and understand how we feel.
And often, they don’t.
Sometimes, we just “beat a dead horse.” Ya know? We talk so much about something that there is no way we are going to feel better about it. It’s almost as if we are fueled by the fire we are burning. We are fueled in a downward spiral instead of an upward spiral. We aren’t ready to overcome. We want to “chew the bone” to death because IT WAS WRONG. IT WAS UNFAIR. I know you know what I’m talking about. I’ve been there. You’ve been there.
I was talking to my grandma recently and something was bothering me that should have bothered her. In fact, I think it did bother her – but she wasn’t going to let herself wade in those waters. No, she told me, “I’m so blessed. God has blessed me.” What an example she was to me in that moment! I got tears in my eyes thinking of all of the times that I could have chosen to not step my feet into waters that were unfair or bothering me. But I dipped my toes in anyways. And sometimes both of my feet. I wanted to shout to the world – “See? Don’t you feel sorry for me? Come, make it right!” I chose the wrong attitude.
I want to choose the right attitude. So, I’ve been practicing. (For practice makes perfect, right?) I look in the mirror in the mornings when I get ready now – and I tell myself, “I am so blessed.” And after doing this for a few days, I’ve added another phrase. Now I look into the mirror and say, “I am so blessed – AND – I will be a blessing.”
I have let myself wallow too much in things that hurt me. And in doing so, I’ve let Satan win part of my mind and my heart on those subjects and in those things. He’s gained time off of my life. That just makes me sad and mad at the same time. I, instead, want to let God win those moments. Believing when He tells me, “I have come to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE.”
Won’t you join with me? Let’s stop waking up in the mornings thinking about how blue and depressed we are. Let’s instead focus on how blessed we are – despite the unfair and wronged things that have happened (and will continue) to happen to us! Even if you can start just thinking of one thing that blesses you…it’s a start. Maybe tomorrow you can think of two. And then three. It can start as small as being thankful for the fresh veggies your neighbor brought you or having time to read or clean out a closet. Whatever it is – that is a gift from God that He blessed you with. Take it, be thankful for it and let it fuel you.
We ARE blessed. We just need to step up and look over our miseries to see the gifts that lay there.
Featured image by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash
