How to Learn to Count Your Blessings

By Susan “Honey” Good

It’s easy to give the advice to a troubled friend, “Learn to count your blessings.” But how? How does one focus on the good — so that it may grow — and minimize the negative?

Each week I look forward to frequenting a charming brownstone home turned manicure studio, for a plain manicure. I don’t believe in the more creative options such as gels or acrylics so my stay is short (like my nails!) but always delightful because the shop is so charming all done up in pinks and fresh white paint…and to add to the atmosphere there is soft background music.

Yesterday proved to be different, very different because I could not help overhearing the woman next to me lamenting her woes in great detail for the entirety of her manicure.

I thought to myself smiling, “This client is smart because her manicurist is certainly a lot less expensive than a psychiatrist or my husband’s term for a shrink… a stretch!”

I continued listening to her bemoan her troubles because our tables were almost touching. She was confiding in the manicurist as though she were a female, Sigmund Freud, the Father of Psychiatry. Her therapy and manicure would cost $22.00, without tip!

Learn To Count Your Blessings

I wanted to enter the conversation and say to her: “I’m sure you are juggling a lot of things in your life, but perspective really is everything. Try to learn to count your blessings, instead of your woes. That is the key to making the blessings begin to multiply.”

While I am empathetic about the woes of this woman sitting next to me, it’s also essential that I protect my own well being. It can be difficult not to let the attitudes of others bring you down. Do you agree?

Instead, I go into my private zone and think, rather than talk! I rehash my morning in my mind, and recall the thoughts I had in my favorite reflection tank…also known as my shower!

I remember feeling peaceful as the warm water, from my rainforest shower head, cascaded over my body. My mind was crystal clear as I cleansed myself of all unnecessary clutter.

What was so serendipitous about today’s trip to the manicurist was that I counted my blessings this morning in the shower!

What blessings did I count? The little ones. A memory of the night before flashed into my mind. It was my husband opening the car door for me! I remembered thanking him and most importantly feeling very much loved and respected by this man I chose to be my partner decades ago! I smiled.

The point is this, we must learn how to count our blessings even in the toughest of times. It is a skill that can be practiced and perfected but we must be disciplined. We must hold ourselves to the highest of standards, looking for the good in people and situations as often as possible. This is how we can learn to count our blessings.

Is the glass always half full?

No, I am not a Pollyanna, always excessively cheerful or optimistic. But I do — as often as possible — try to see my glass half full. What I am offering you today is what I have learned. I am offering you, my imperfect application of wisdom.

I truly appreciate my blessings; those fleeting moments during the course of each day. It may be my dog, Orchid, licking my leg, a text, an email or a phone call from a child or grandchild, the taste of my early morning hot coffee, hearing my husband’s voice, or looking at the gas gauge on my car and noticing my husband filled the tank.

I offer you this suggestion:

Become aware of your daily blessings and count them! They are right under your nose. Blessings do not have to be big, they are small snippets that may last but a second. The small, wonderful moments are little mental treasures. Please recognize them, because they will either give your body a feeling of great physical relaxation or put a small smile on your face.

Do Something GOOD today…voice this snippet of wisdom, to your grandchildren or to a girlfriend…who is using her manicurist as her ‘stretch!

Susan “Honey” Good is the founder of HoneyGood.com where this blog originally appeared. The site is a collection of lessons learned, life advice and insights from not only her, but from a fantastic group of contributing writers, each adding their own spice to the recipe. Honey Good.com representing “a family tree of women” — wives, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters, aunts, cousins and girlfriends — coming together to talk about what makes them tick as well as what they have in common. Honey Good discusses life experiences with wisdom, humor and intellect, enabling all to attain a “Honey Good Style of Life.”