Too often we do not realize the blessings we have until they are gone. I am grateful for social media for always making me aware or bringing to light blessings that I have that I had never stopped to truly think about. For instance, I watched a video a few months back, and despite my best efforts have not been able to find it again. I wanted to post it here, so if anyone knows where to find a link, please share it.
The video basically went like this: A question was posed about whether or not you think you are a good person. It talked about recycling, and I believe a few other things. The tone of the video is very sarcastic, as the video delved into things that we do on a daily basis that would be completely unbelievable to someone in a third world country. For instance, we have a tap, that produces fresh clean water on command. We then let that water run over our dirty dishes to clean them, and that fresh, beautiful water goes right down the drain. Same concept with toilets, ha ha, we have bowls full of fresh water and we spoil it and flush it.
The video really touched me, I had honestly never truly thought about these luxuries and how they would appear to someone in another country.
Water is such a precious commodity in our world, but we have unlimited access to it in our country. Even when we hear of droughts or water shortages in our area, it seems that we go on with life pretending that nothing is wrong, at least I know I am guilty of this.
Some young girls in Africa have to walk miles to get their water for the day. Many of them do this at risk to themselves, getting attacked and raped along the way. But water is our life source, and so they make this sacrifice, for themselves and for their families. What if our water came at such a cost?
And it is not just water, we are blessed with food, all around us. I think how I can look in my fridge and pantry and come away going, "There is nothing to eat." What a fool I am! I am a king! If I need something, I can get in my car, drive a mile down the road and buy almost anything at the store. One of my pet peeves is when people do not get a doggy bag at a restaurant. I know, such a stupid pet peeve, but it bothers me when food is wasted. We are just so lucky, I wish there was some way to stick those unwanted leftovers in a sci-fi transporting machine and deliver it instantaneously to someone in need.
The list goes on and on. I was inspired over the last few years by Malala, and the sacrifices she has made to stand up for rights to education for females in the Middle East. I have taken my education so for granted, even begrudging it from time to time. If only our children could understand what a precious commodity the ability to read is, or to do basic arithmetic. People all over the world would give anything to have access to our educational system.
My life is so immensely blessed. It would take me too long to write all of those things down here on this blog, but one of my new years resolutions is to challenge myself to see those blessings, and to take stock, and give back. I am trying to keep a gratitude journal, something I did as a child with my family but have long since neglected. I would like to challenge each of you to do the same. Being grateful for what we have will make us happier. I know this to be true. I have seen it work in my own life, it seems basic right?
I would also like to know of more ways I can give back, but sometimes feel at a loss as to how to do that, so if anyone has any good ideas to share, PLEASE, share them with me. It would mean so much to me if you would, and I know there are other people out there who would like these resources as well.
One last thought on this. While I know that others in this world are in more impoverished conditions than myself, I also know they have many things they are grateful for too, and many may even be happier than us at times, due to their ability to appreciate the simple things they have. They also probably know better than we do what is important. We have so much we easily lose sight of what things matter. I remember a few months ago talking to Scott about all the money I wanted to spend on improving our house. All of these things would be to beautify our house, not make it more sturdy or fix any major damage. I paused and thought to myself, "What a silly way to spend the immense wealth I have been given (this is not meant to sound like I am rich, just that compared to people who live in tin shacks, I have so much)." I try my best to realize how silly I am sometimes in my needs and wants, and what things I truly need to be happy. Sometimes my pursuit of these less than worthy things get in the way of what I should be focusing on.
So, I have one last request. Do any of you have good ways that you help yourself stay focused on the important things? I am thinking along the lines of some motto or sign you look at daily, maybe a sticky note reminder on your mirror, or a rubber band you wear on your wrist to snap when you think ungrateful thoughts? I would love to know your tips and tricks for staying focused on your blessings.
Love today's post. We can become so focused on our wants, that we over look all that we have i think doing an inventory of our blessings daily is so important to our all over happiness.
ReplyDeleteI'll share a few things I do to help me remember my bleseings.
1) Expressing gratitude to my Father.I try to really focus the majority of my evening prayers in thanksgiving. Remembering to thank the Lord for all he has given me, especially at the end of a not-so-great day or finding blessings in adversity, puts everything back in perspective for me. I've come to recognize the Savior's tender mercies in my life and I cherish these moments most dearly.
2) Paying a generous fast offering. This has been a great blessing in our lives. There are so many friends and members in our ward who are struggling with finances and the stress of providing for their families, I'm grateful for the opportunity to share what we've been so richly blessed with.
3) Serving others. I've really wanted to focus on community service this year. I've been helping out a friend who has been providing school supplies and organizing clothes drives for families in our area who can't afford this for their school aged kids. This year she has stepped it up a notch and rented a warehouse and set it up to look like a boutique. The families love it because it feels more like a shopping experience. We've set up pretty displays and there are fitting rooms, the whole nine yards. It's been a lot of fun for me. Whether it's going through bags and bags of clothes, ironing dozens of tops and bottoms, donating things around the house to help with displays or assisting the families that come in (all though seeing the happiness on little kids faces is the best!), I come away feeling joyful and lifted from my own worries and concerns.
I know this isn't something young mom's could necessarily do, but there are opportunities to serve everywhere. Our Stake has a goal to do 1 million acts of kindness this year through service and ministering to others. We've been telling or Primary kids to "observe then serve".
I like you're comments about a doggie bag. I remember one little girl giving her leftovers to a homeless man one night after going or to dinner with the family. This act of kindness encouraged her parents and grandparents to follow suit. Her dad even went back to the restaurant to get plastic utensils so the gentleman would have something to eat with (remember? ;) I do! ). Observe than serve!! Everyday we have opportunities to impact the lives of family, friends, neighbors and strangers for good. And that impacts our own lives for good :)
I love this post. It's so easy to get caught up in our lives and just forget how impossible most of the world has it. We are truly blessed. For what it's worth, volunteermatch.org is a good place to start if you are looking for volunteer work. It lets you put in what you are interested in, what times you are available, etc. to find an organization you'd like to work with. It might be worth checking out.
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