Counting My Blessings

Beatle-to-be
Originally uploaded by cathyguballa.

Two more days and I turn 42.

Turning 40 was a great thrill, 41 was so-so but this birthday is one that I especially look forward to if only for the fact that I lived to see another year! For those of you who regularly read this blog, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, you can read all about my brush with mortality here.

My children, P and L have brought such great joy especially these last few days. I thank God that He has blessed me with such wonderful children. Today, L began his guitar lessons and serendipitously, as he was pluccking away in the living room with his guitar teacher, I came across Jim Paredes' blog entry where he talks about how he discovered the Beatles and began learning how to play the the guitar at the age of 11 helped him tremendously in his younger years --

"As a direct off-shoot of my discovery of the Beatles, I asked my older sister for a guitar on my birthday. Learning guitar and knowing the chords of ALL the Beatles’ songs was therapy to this confused inarticulate boy who was too shy and self-conscious to engage the grown-up world. With my guitar, I discovered a parallel language I could use that made sense to me. It was the language of feeling and emotion which gave me a sense of how to deal with some of life’s big topics that I was just starting to confront, such as love, career and idealism. "

Now, L has had to deal with a lot of bullies over at his school and he basically is a shy boy around his teachers and classmates. Just like Jim, he loves the Beatles too. His national anthem on the magic sing at home is either "Yellow Submarine" or "Love Me Do" where he gets scores in the line of 9 :) Hopefully, learning how to play the guitar will help ease some of his shyness. Who knows? He may be a strumming doctor someday? Wouldn't that be cool?

Yesterday, after braving two and a half hours of traffic from Roxas Boulevard, I made it just in time to get P's report card and what a blessing it was to see that she did well in spite of her numerous absences (she came down with pneumonia in July). However, what was even more heartwarming for me were the popsitive affirmations that her teachers used in describing her behavior and attitude towards school. During an activity last week called "In Their Shoes" where students take on the role of teacher for a day, P was only of three students from her year level, chosen to teach Feshman Spanish :) It was a task that she thoroughly enjoyed and one that made her realize how difficult a teacher's job can be. Nowadays, with all the negative influences from media and the demands of peer pressure it's a challenge to raise a 15 year old. Adolescence is a totally differemt ballgame from the elementary years - thank God we haven't struck out!

What lead me to this entry on counting one's blessings was my devotional today from eminent Christian author Elisabeth Elliot who wrote about "Several Ways To Make Yourself Miserable" I enumerate a few of them here for you to think about --

1. Count your troubles, name them one by one--at the breakfast table, if anybody will listen, or as soon as possible thereafter.
2. Worry every day about something. Don't let yourself get out of practice. It won't add a cubit to your stature but it might burn a few calories.
3. Pity yourself. If you do enough of this, nobody else will have to do it for you.
4. Make it your business to find out what the Joneses are buying this year and where they're going. Try to do them at least one better even if you have to take out another loan to do it.
5. Make sure you get your rights. Never mind other people's. You have your life to live, they have theirs.
6. Don't let Bible reading and prayer get in the way of what's really relevant--things like TV and newspapers. Invisible things are eternal. You want to stick with the visible ones--they're where it's at now.

Quite an insightful list and one that got me thinking about my own mindset as I approach another birthday. Complaining really won't get you anywhere and saps the life energy out of you and the people around you as well. Neither does dissing your neighbor and coveting what she has. And it's certainly no fun to throw a "pity party"!

James 5:9 says, " Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!" Not complaining or not grumbling is a pretty tall order especially if you've been so used to dissing every person that displeases you or every "mishap" that comes your way. Perhaps, another good way of putting it would be to "choose to understand before asking to be understood." I had several epiphanies if you could call it that, over the last couple of months and they have helped me tremedously in letting go, forgiving and moving on. I think that's one huge blessing to be thankful for. How liberating that can truly be.