My Ebenezer

One of my favorite shows on TV is “How I Met Your Mother”. Basically, it is the latest and greatest “Friends” show and it is hilarious. A few weeks back, the episode was about annoying habits. Each of the characters had a very annoying habit that no one noticed…..until someone else pointed it out. As soon as someone pointed out that she crunched really loud when she ate, it started driving EVERYONE nuts. You get the idea.

Our minds naturally gravitate towards the negative – it’s so easy to pick out somebody else’s flaws and then get hung up on them. After a while, all you see is the flaw(s) and you forget about the many redeeming qualities. I was listening to a sermon by Joel Osteen last night and he gave a wonderful reminder of how important it is to stay focused on the positive. I cracked up when he said that maybe the only thing we can find to be grateful for about a particular person is that we’re not them. ha ha ha

As a mother of young children, there are days when it is hard to hold to gratitude. Kids are sick and whiny, laundry is piled up and you have work to do on top of it all. When I’m ready to lounge in self pity, I remember all the women who want desperately to have children and can’t. I remember the days of battling infertility and how empty – barren – I felt. I thank God that i have kids. I thank God that my kids are healthy and good natured. I thank God for their enthusiasm and contagious laughter. It’s hard to sit in funk when you’re listing all the things you are grateful for.

Start today. Make a list of ten things you’re grateful for. When you get to the end of your list, think of ten more. Keep going. See how long it is before you run out of things to be grateful for. I bet you’ll be at it a while.