blest [blest]

highly favored or fortunate as by divine grace; bringing happiness, pleasure, or contentment

Synonyms include: exultant, joyous, content, gratified

Fr. Joe (who should be getting a large chunk of credit from me because I seem to quote him a lot these days) spoke about former morning show correspondent Deborah Norville's book, Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work For You. I leafed through a few pages on Amazon.com and this quote just said it all to me:

Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ~ Charles Dickens

We've become a thankless society it seems, because we're surrounded by so many things and people reminding us everyday of what we've lost or just never had. I felt like a dunce at mass on Thanksgiving morning. I give thanks to God all the time for my family, my friends, my job, my home, etc. But with that I've also bitched and moaned for having such a hard time keeping up with my finances or feeling helpless and defeated when something doesn't go the way I planned or hoped it would. I am more blessed than I deserve to be and it's a shame how often I have to be reminded of it. I'm so so thankful for so many things...

I'm thankful that I have parents who have never made me feel guilty, despite how often they've had to rescue me from a difficult situation. I'm thankful that my sister doesn't need to be reminded about the difference between right and wrong. I'm thankful that I have a family who depends on me and trusts that I will come through when I say I'm going to. I'm thankful for my friends, those I've known for 20+ years and those who I've been fortunate to meet later in life, who are around when the world is perfect, and moreso when it's not. I'm thankful that I have a job, a home, that I have the means to do more than I think I can.

I'm thankful that there are still people who do random acts of kindness, for strangers, like the car behind me on the 101 who turned on their hazzards and guided me safely to the next exit when my car stopped in the middle of the freeway at 4:55 on a Tuesday afternoon. When I think of all the disastrous scenarios that I could've encounterd that day I want to do nothing but thank that man for being thoughtful and then thanking heaven for sparing me.

I'm thankful for truths that hurt and even more for truths that comfort. I'm thankful for every moment that made me feel powerless, and for every opportunity after that made me stronger.

Here's to our daily blessings...