Blessings
Are You Counting or Complaining?
Introduction
In this season of thanksgiving I have been pondering my blessings. In my reflections I have noticed the tendency to count my blessings while simultaneously complaining about them. Thank you for joining me in this Adventure of Reflection on counting without complaining.
A Minute of Motivation
Seek Simplicity
We live in a world which urges us to obtain more and more possessions and more and more success (whatever that is!). Contentment, however, is not to be found in greater material possessions or higher levels of worldly success. Contentment can be found in a life of simplicity and quality.
A nicer car will not bring lasting happiness. A larger home will not bring deeper joy. Peace of mind is not found in a healthy bank account (though it helps!). Self-worth is not achieved through attaining higher and higher levels of status. And contentment is found in none of these.
Contentment is more likely to be found in simplicity, and a quality of life, not a quantity of things and accomplishments. Sharing one’s existence with a few very close friends is more valuable and rewarding than having numerous casual acquaintances. Contentment is not found in large, wild parties; contentment is found in the deep sharing of your soul with a kindred spirit.
Similarly, contentment is not found in trophies, awards, or degrees. Contentment can be found through doing something that contributes in a significant way to the lives of others, leaving a positive mark on the world, even if just in one person. If we have made the life of one other person a little better, than our journey in this life has been worthwhile. In knowing that we have made a positive difference to someone; therein lies contentment.
Don’t waste your life following the purposeless motto of “More is Never Enough.” Seek to invest your energy in those things which have lasting value.
Note. Originally written in 1993, preserved on dot-matrix paper; published here for the first time.
Enjoy Life More
Practice Counting, not Complaining
The season of Thanksgiving turns our thoughts to “counting our blessings” as we gather with friends and family and eat abundant amounts of food. It’s common to say thanks for things like home, spouses, friends, children, jobs, and health. These are all blessings and it is good to “count” them.
I’ve been thinking more deeply about what it means to “count” blessings. It appears to me (and I am using myself as my source of information) that we can “count” something as a blessing while also “complaining” about that very same blessing. For example, we may say “thank you for my home” but, in our minds, be complaining about how old, or cluttered, or small/big it is. We might say “thank you for my job” while simultaneously thinking about how frustrated or underpaid we are at work. Does this count as counting? Or, by our complaining, have we dis-counted our counting?
To enjoy life more, how about we practice counting our blessings without dis-counting them by our complaining? No one has the perfect home, or the perfect spouse, or the perfect child, or the perfect job, or the perfect friend, or perfect health. Let’s all try to just count our blessings and not complain about their imperfections. Practice counting, not complaining.
Faith Corner
Paul advised Timothy to “be content with food and clothes.” 1 Timothy 6:8.
Do you have enough food and clothes? My guess is you, like me, have more than enough. A regular resolution for many is to “eat better and lose weight.” Similarly, the goal to “declutter my closet” is an annual task. Our prosperous lives are full of “more than enough” of these basic necessities.
In fact, most of us have never gone hungry or naked. We had parents to feed and clothe us; our pantries and closets have been full since childhood. Yet, looking into our hearts, there may be only little bits of intermittent contentment. How can we have so much and be so lacking in contentment?
It’s easy to take food and clothes for granted when you’ve always had them. What if we intentionally practiced saying “thank you” for every bite we take and every piece of clothing we put on or take off? Practicing gratitude for the meeting of our basic needs can build contentment.
Dear Lord, thank You for giving me plenty of food to eat and an abundance of clothes to wear. Forgive me for taking these blessings for granted. Help me to practice giving thanks for every meal You provide and for the pieces of clothing I wear each day. Amen.
Poetry Pause
C-O-N-T-E-N-T
Counting blessings;
Overjoyed and
Never lacking.
There’s food and clothes –
Enough for me:
Now complete, and
Thankful.
By Cindy MacGregor, November 18, 2022
Note. I tend to be a restless soul; contentment is often elusive for me. Maybe this poem will help.
Old Mom to Young Mom
Are You Counting or Complaining?
When you talk about your children, what do you say? When you think about your children, what are you thinking? Having a child to raise is a profound blessing. Are your thoughts and words full of counting or complaining about this blessing? Do you complain about your children or count them as blessings?
Children aren’t born with perfect behavior and well-managed emotions. If they were, parents would be superfluous. Parenting is a bit like being a sculptor, chipping away that which is not a part of the ultimate masterpiece and polishing the rough areas. As a sculptor of your children, how do you talk about your work?
It’s easy to complain about the parts of our children that aren’t the way we want them to be. Parents often point out the flaws in their children instead of focusing on the progress their children are making towards becoming masterpieces. Why would a sculptor talk about the pieces that are being chipped away or the rough areas still needing to be made smooth?
It doesn’t make sense, but it is the default nature of parents. It takes discipline of thought and speech for a parent to speak positively about their child. An intentional shift from “he can’t seem to keep his room clean” to “he’s learning to keep things in order” takes the focus from the complaint to the emerging work of art.
It takes years of dedicated parenting to shape a well-functioning adult from a child. As you chip away what doesn’t belong and smooth the rough places in your child, I encourage you to think and speak of the ultimate masterpiece, not the debris being left behind. You are participating in the profound work of sculpting a person. Count that as a great blessing.
Dear Dr. Mac
I love trying to be wise. With degrees in psychology and leadership, I have a lot of advice to offer. some of it might even be good. If you would like to hear what I think about something, please send an email to: drcjmacgregor@outlook.com; I will respond via email or in this section of a future newsletter, or both. I hope to hear from you!