Count Your Blessings

You have heard the expression “count your blessings,” right? It is one of those phrases people toss around when they do not know what else to say. But there is real truth hiding in that simple saying. When you actually stop and count your blessings, you start to notice how many good things are quietly waiting for you to appreciate them. I think you would be surprised, just like I was.

This little thought originally went out as one of my Positive Daily Thoughts. I sent it out with barely a second thought:

“Count your blessings. Do it. I bet you will be surprised at how many great things there are in your life.”

That was it, short, simple, straight from the heart. And here I am, needing to take my own advice.

I will be honest. I was sitting here this morning having a grand old pity party. You know the kind. The world feels unfair, your coffee tastes weird, and you are convinced your life is a tragic sitcom rerun. I was listing every single reason I had to be miserable, and I was doing a great job of convincing myself that my life was awful. Then, like a little Gibbs style slap upside the head, it hit me. My existence is not miserable. Far from it.

Why is it Important to Count Your Blessings

I have a job that I fought tooth and nail to get. It is not always easy, but it is mine. I have two simply amazing kids who keep me laughing even when they are driving me a little crazy. I have a car that is paid off, no small victory in itself, and a warm, safe place to live. That is more than many people can say. When I stopped to actually count my blessings, the pity party ended faster than you can say “commercial break.”

Are things perfect? Not even close. Life is messy. There are bumps, wrong turns, and those “are you kidding me?” moments that pop up when you least expect them. But maybe those detours are part of the route toward something better. When I take the time to count my blessings, it does not make the tough stuff disappear, but it sure makes it feel smaller.

I have learned that gratitude is not about ignoring what is wrong. It is about remembering what is right. The truth is, I could fill a notebook with the things I do not have yet or the goals I have not reached. But I could also fill a notebook with everything that has gone right. On days like this, I would rather look at the second list.

That realization reminded me of something I wrote not long ago called We Are All Unique. Back then, I was writing about individuality, how it is okay to stand out and be different. Now I see how that ties into gratitude. When you count your blessings, you are really counting the things that make your life uniquely yours. Your story does not have to look like anyone else’s to be beautiful.

I also came across a helpful article in Psychology Today about why gratitude is good. It talks about how practicing thankfulness can boost happiness, health, and even relationships. It is nice to see science catching up with what our grandmothers already knew. Saying thank you and taking a moment to count your blessings can genuinely change the way you see your world.

Here is another thing I have noticed. Blessings do not always announce themselves. Sometimes they whisper. They show up as the friend who checks in when you are quiet, the random smile from a stranger, or the moment you finally laugh after a hard week. It is easy to overlook those little things, but they are often the ones that mean the most. When you make time to notice them, life feels a lot less heavy.

So here is my challenge, to myself as much as to anyone reading this. Count your blessings. Do not just think about them vaguely. Actually name them. Write them down. Say them out loud. Start with the big things like family, friends, and health, but once you get going, you will find the smaller joys bubbling up too. The smell of coffee in the morning. The sun peeking through your curtains. The feeling of climbing into bed at the end of a long day. Those count too.

Life is not perfect. Mine certainly is not. But that does not mean it is miserable. It means it is real, and in the middle of that reality, there is so much to be thankful for. I am reminding myself to stop focusing on what is missing and start seeing what is already here. Today and tomorrow, I am going to count my blessings again, on paper and in my heart.

Go ahead. Stop scrolling, stop worrying, stop comparing, and count your blessings. You might discover that your life is overflowing with good things. You just forgot to notice.