Count your blessings.

I have been posting lately about how awful I feel and boo-hoo my life is so bad etc. I know that my husband just left me and I have no children and I just had a TAH & RSO + endo clean up and large cyst removed from what's left of my left ovary and I am broke with no income because I am off work and so on and so on.

In addition to being a Chiropractic Assistant, I teach First Aid and CPR for St. John Ambulance and I am also a Pampered Chef Kitchen consultant.

I just received an email about one of the other consultants on my team, Lori. She and her husband were on their way to visit family on Christmas Day and were hit and killed by another car. They had only just married in September and she just celebrated her 28th birthday. So young and so innocent.

Gosh, I sure do have a different outlook on life now. I am counting my blessings today that I have survived all the terrible stuff I mentioned earlier. I know now that God would not give me all of these challenges if he didn't think I could handle it. So tonight I am grateful to be alive and I am praying for Lori and her husbands families who are now without their loved ones. I feel very selfish for having whined about my own situation, because no matter how bad it gets I'm sure that someone is worse off than I. Sisters let us all count our blessings tonight, and I will start with all of you. You are my angels and are one of the biggest blessings in my life. Thank you all and my God keep you all safe and well.

I always like to call these "defining moments" when we realize that things are different than how we see them and they are life changing events. Good luck to you and know that if you ever need anything, we are always here for you.

Your right this was a defining moment. I think that I have sulked around the house long enough, and that it is definitely time that I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I shall pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back to my life that has been patiently waiting in the wings. I have survived. Now it is time I started acting like a survivor not a victim.

I AM SO SORRY TO HEAR OF YOUR LOSS!!!

I UNDERSTAND THAT KIND OF FAST LOSS. MY SISTER IN LAW TWO YEARS AGO WENT TO WORK AS COUNSELOR AT HER HIGH SCHOOL AND SLUMPED OVER AND FELL ASLEEP AND NEVER WOKE UP THEY RUSHED HER TO THE HOSPITAL AND SHE HAD A ANURISM(SP) AND WAS COMPLETELY BRAIN DEAD.. WE HAD JUST TALKED TO HER THE NITE BEFORE... SHE WAS ONLY 40 AND THAT IS STILL YOUNG TO ME... I AM ONLY 30...


SO I HAVE LEARNED THAT IS WHY YOU TAKE EVERYTHING YOU DO ONE DAY AT A TIME AND BE VERY GRATEFULL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ON THAT DAY... AND GO TO BED AND THANK GOD FOR ONE MORE DAY..... TO MANY PEOPLE LIVE FOR THE FUTURE, BUT NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.....


YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN MY PRAYERS...

AND ON A LITE NOTE I AM GOING TO A PAMPERED CHEF PARTY FRIDAY THAT ME AND A FRIEND ARE HOLDING AT HER HOUSE.....I WILL HAVE THEM SAY A SILENT PRAYER FOR YOUR FRIENDS.....LOTS OF HUGS

for the loss of your friend. I shall keep their families in my prayers.

I had a similar death occur in my circle of friends when I was going through my own "dark night of the soul" . . . . And yes, it does indeed change how you view your own pain and loss.

My personal belief is that God takes every burden and turns it into a blessing. That he takes each grievous loss, whether an actual physical one - or an emotional/spiritual one - or both, and fashions of it a miracle. A miracle tailor-made just for me. Just for you. A miracle that will, in time, with His Grace - transform a part of us, of our lives - into something bright, shining, joyous ~

I could tell you several stories of personal experience that make this the truest thing I know. Even the ***worst*** thing that happened to me, the loss of my child, was miraculously turned into the Best thing that ever happened to me.

It may sound impossible or unbelievable. I certainly NEVER would have believed it in the midst of my grief. But it is true nonetheless.

This is a miserable time of your life, right now. That's obvious. But what is probably not so obvious - Is the *miracle* waiting at the end of this time of pain. So if you can, a little bit each day, tell yourself there is a blessing beyond all blessings on it's way to you. And it Just for You. All yours. It will fit you so perfectly that when you "see" it - there will be no mistaking that it was created specifically for you alone - and with Great Love.

Expect that miracle. I promise it will arrive. And probably when you least expect it. That's just how it was for me.

((((Prayers and Hugs))))
Denise

I realize now that things for me could really be a whole lot worse than they are. I am just so very sorry it took such a tragic event, the loss of my friend, to snap me out of this deep dark funk that I have been in for the past few weeks. I am feeling a bit guilty now about feeling so sorry for myself, so I will turn all of this guilt and grief into prayer and I know that tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day....the most beautiful day ever. That alone will be a miracle. I will get on my knees and thank the lord each and every day of the rest of my life for what he has given me.

A friend gave me a bookmark just recently and I think that today it finally made sense to me:

Rebecca ~ to bind
If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36

I know this one so very well. About four years ago I went through a period when I attended five funerals in a very short space of time - and every single person was younger than me, one as young as 16.

I think is so important to remember, as often as you can, to focus on the blessings and miracles we have right here and now. However, we are also only human, and it's okay if we feel sorry for ourselves from time to time. The trick is not to get stuck there for too long, and miss out too much on the blessings all around us.

Thank you for this reminder - and I will say a prayer for the families of your friends. So sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry for your loss but am also very proud of you for deciding to get on with your life. As the old rodeo saying goes "Cowboy (or in this case Cowgirl" up!

but...I also think the painful experiences you have told us about are a big part of you that has to be acknowledged and honored. Real reason to grieve. Comparison of pain just doesn't work sometimes. And your pain is just as important as anyone else's pain in this world. I am so sorry to hear that life gave you one more event to grieve and I am proud of you of having a positive perspective about it.

Yes, life can be horrid and things happen to others that are more horrible than happen to me or you, but what did happen to us, not to be minimized. No, we aren't dead, but we experienced and survived loss in ways that are dramatic and heart-breaking.

The whole "it coulda been worse" mechanism is valuable in a way, but in other ways it sends a message that what I consider "the worst" somehow needs to be marginalized, shoved off to the side and not given the respect it deserves.

.

I am sorry to hear that many of us have fallen upon bad times. I truly believe that God does not give us more than he thinks we can handle. I have taken another hard look at myself, and I realize now, that God in his infinite wisdom, has changed my life for reasons yet unknown to me, but part of a much bigger plan. I also believe that I will be a better person, and a stronger person in the end because of it. Today I start my healing, the real healing, and I thank God for the chance to do it.

Amen.