Thing #25: Everything I have

Christmas is wonderful, but these two weeks before it are always overwhelming to me. I start to let my anxiety take hold, and then I have no fun. But, always, the day or two before the actual holiday, I get a perspective check.

Today, as I was driving my sniffly and uncaffeinated self to the ridiculously crowded mall, I saw a family walking down the street with a shopping cart full of things and a child who looked to be about two-years-old. I wanted to pull over and ask what I could do, but my America, selfish sensibilities took over, and I kept driving. But I did realize one very important thing: my life is amazing.

I don't have to worry where my next meal will come from. I do not have to worry that my children may not have a place to sleep at night. I do not have to wonder if my family will call or send me a card this Christmas. I do not struggle to pay my power, water, cable bill, or car loan. I have everything I need and almost everything I want. I am one of the luckiest people in the world.

I often feel like I don't deserve the many blessings I have been given. At times like these, I think of Grandpa Ed's question, "why was I born in America and not a poor man in Africa?" Regardless, I know that I deserve the blessings less if I fail to acknowledge them.

So today, I am happy for EVERYTHING I have - the material things and the emotional comforts I truly need to survive. Life IS good.