This is an excellent time for all of us to be encouraged. Yes, it seems everyone is going through a personal crisis, some great financial stress, others the potential loss of a home or a business. Retirement funds are at risk, and many segments of our economy, including real estate, have come to a screeching and painful halt.
How could I suggest this is a time to be encouraged? While our material and financial losses and struggles are great, we can and ought to focus on those things that are most important, not on those things that are least important.
What are the things in life that are most important? What can we be thankful for? How can we count our blessings in a time like this?
I believe that life is all about relationships, not things. Â Do you believe that? Â If you do, then like me you know that if you had all the money in the world, but you had lost all those whom you love most, life would seem empty. Â If you owned millions of dollars in real estate rentals all free and clear, but you did not have a single family member or friend who loved you, it would all be for naught.
May I suggest that we thank God for our loved ones, for our friends, for all our relationships that really make this life so precious?
Do you have a husband or wife who loves you?  You have been blessed.  Do you have children?  You have been blessed and will be blessed far into your senior years when your children delight your soul, because as we get older we realize how much  our lives thrive from our relationships with our children.  Do you have grandchildren?  Is it not a heart warming experience to watch their facial expressions and hear their giggles when they open your Christmas gifts?  Does that not make your day, your week, your month?
Too many of us don’t realize how blessed we are until we lose what we have. Â Many of us have lost a spouse to death or divorce. Â Some of us have lost a child. Â I hope and pray you will never suffer such losses. Â The depths of sorrow of a broken heart cannot possibly be expressed in words. Â I know.
When we lose those who are most precious to us, we realize how little things matter.  Money, real estate, investments, and toys all take on a new insignificance.  These things  mean absolutely nothing when you suffer the greatest of losses in life–the loss of loved ones.
So what do you have to be thankful for today? Â Can you count your blessings? Â May I encourage you to stop dwelling on all that has gone wrong and on all that could possibly go wrong in the months ahead, and instead focus on how much has gone right and on how many things you have to be thankful for? Â You and I have been abundantly blessed. Â We just need to think on that more often.
I would like to suggest that every time you find yourself dwelling on the negatives that surround you in these trying days, immediately force yourself to count one great positive blessing in your life. Â And along the way, seek to find humor in your challenges, and make a point of laughing about them. Â Laughter is medicine for the soul.
Have faith that things will get better. Â I promise you that after a time of trial, they always do.
Last Updated on November 21, 2008 by Chuck Marunde
