Home » Archives » 13. August 2009
Thankfulness
August 13, 2009Think of the times you were at peace. Nothing troubles you. Nothing disturbs your heart. Not a single doubt about your future in your mind. Just the silent peace out of knowing you are loved and that Someone’s aware of what you’ll ever need.
Capture this moment. You want to live in thankfulness. A state of life that tells you you are blessed. And you should be thankful that while you don’t have the things you want, you have what you’ve got so far.
- You have your family with you while there are broken relationships somewhere in this part of the globe.
- You breathe freely like there’s so much ahead of you while others labor for a gasp of air. Some are sustained by a ventilator while others need intubation every now and then.
- There are a thousand out there without the gift of sight and you can just imagine how eager they are to see themselves in a mirror. They have not seen the sunset on waters. They have not seen what a flower is, or what a bus is. They can only create a picture in their mind about the things that you tell them. They can feel you, touch you or hear you, but they can never see your face or the glow in your eyes.
Some people don’t have what you have. And you have to be grateful for these things.
-You can hear people in a conversation while others try to read only through gestures, facial expressions or lip movements. Some will never hear the soft spoken “I Love You,” not even the nagging of a cranky neighbor. Not even when the door slams, or a screeching vehicle coming near. They can only sense by intuition or by the sight of things.
- But even SENSE sometimes fails thousands among us everyday. Some people are numb from heartaches or loss or personal tragedy. A person’s nerve pathways simply shut down and the transmission of impulses stops. Then pathological condition happens and the person loses awareness of the fundamental idea of “hot or cold.”
- Some undergo dialysis while your kidney still performs the normal filtrating process.
-Your liver continues to metabolize fats, your glands regulate your hormones to a normal level. There is homeostasis ( a state of internal equilibrium) in your body.
- You can still recall while others have lost their memories.
Can you imagine people restricted by physical disabilities? Can you imagine the number of people rushed by the minute to the hospital because they had a heart attack, a vehicular accident, internal hemorrhage or because of episodes of apnea. Think of those who lost awareness of themselves and went into coma, or paranoia, delusion, amnesia or schizophrenia? They are those who have detached from reality because of depression or because specific neurotransmitters in their brains suddenly fluctuate from normal levels?
- Imagine the many who are particular with time or with the food they take because they are watching over their blood sugar. Ask the diabetics.
-Think of those in chemo or those undergoing lifetime hormonal therapy. Can you imagine the inconvenience they have to go through everyday?
- Imagine those who, in the first place, were never allowed to be born because they have selfish parents who were too coward to raise their own children.
-Imagine your life devoid of the single “little “ blessing that you have now. Then tell me how you feel.
- Yes, you are lacking while others are abundant. You complain, all right. You scream in frustration and you sulk in pity because others are far more blessed. These things console you little, you may say. And your sorrow still multiply. You grow in envy because others still get the better part while you are stuck in between the BEST and the WORST. There are things that are difficult to make sense. But this I know: that you can still live in gratitude for the things that you already have and for THOSE YOU DON’T HAVE.
- You don’t have a ventilator hooked to you. You don’t have injections to take. You don’t have medications to regulate your neurotransmitters because if they fluctuate then you may have bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases to mention a few.
- You are a well person, equipped with useful skills. You don’t have your life’s partner and you are growing impatient but you are ALIVE and every day is a POSSIBILITY.
- You don’t have the career that you dream about, the house that you’ve been dreaming of, or your own business that could make you feel fulfilled and competitive. But you are NOT DEAD, are you?
No one is convincing you to be content. Life is only asking that you be grateful despite the aches in your heart.
You grieve for the things that are not given you even when you feel you really deserve them. How can we know the reason why?
No one is asking you to love your failure. But you are asked to continue believing that you deserve more and you can have them, if not today, then the next time may be.
This will not console much but these are hard facts of life. Every single day though, stands for one thing: that something can change! That your brokenness may soon heal. That you may get the big breakthrough in your life. That you can meet the one you’ll say “I do.” That you can sing and dance because you are well. That you can be happier.
The tide will turn to your favor. The wind will change direction. And the rain that got you wet and chilling will give way to the rainbow. If not today, then in another time.
Nature tells us that there are rebirths; there are renewals. The day breaks to full light only to recede for the night to befall. The caterpillar crawls before it can have wings. The turtle creeps slowly but it still “ARRIVES.” The birds have hollow wings so they could fly. And sometimes our lives need to be hollow so we could be light for flight. Our souls need to embrace the darkness because it makes us desire to bring in the light. Our hearts at times need to ache so we can appreciate more the idea of happiness. And frustrations are inevitable so we can see that we are misplaced or so we could see what else we need to do to get to where we want. Just like the turtle, we too shall ARRIVE.
Emptiness tells us that we have a large vacant space to fill. Our emptiness tells us that we can be “FILLED.“
Now breathe. This very simple act should tell you something important, don’t you think?
April 25, 2009 at 9:00 am
