One By One

"When upon lifes billows you are tempest tossed; When you are discouraged thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will suprise you what the Lord has done." I believe that everything we are, and everything we have is from God. Last summer I read an article from one of the church leaders of the Mormon faith, one of the twelve apostles by the name of Elder J...effery R. Holland. The article was called, "Lord, I Believe." In it he said, and I am paraphrasing here, "instead of focusing on what you dont' have, focus on what you do have." Around the time I read the article I was going through one of the hardest times in my life. It was trying in every sense of the word. I felt tempest tossed and I felt discouraged. Many times I felt all was lost and that I was very much upon lifes billows. I began thinking why is it this way?? Why can't it be this other way?? I dont' have this, this, OR that!! When I landed on this last inward exclamation, the quote from the article, felt as if it rang through my mind silencing my rantful thinking. "Rather than focus on what you don't have, think about what you do have." I sat quietly for a minute and began to think of things that I DID have. It started very basic and rather broad. It was also difficult at first. "I have a family..." "I have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard..." "I have my health." My whole attitude proceeded to change, and the list grew longer and longer. The next day I came agross the hymn I quoted at the first of this post, and realized that it was the formula that refreshed and awakened me from a spiral of miserable events and thoughts. In truth I felt the song applied so perfectly into my life that I knew that the lesson held within its verses was correct and the obvious outcome of putting into practice the lesson proves it worth and accuracy. My cirumstances hadn't changed. I still was faced with the raging storm, billows and all, but I went from misery to peace; tumult to contentment; lonliness to happiness; and all it took was counting out what I did have, my blessings, ONE BY ONE.