Rocky Start To The New Year

If I were just to go by myself and one of my friends, this new year has started off pretty rough. My mother-in-law had surgery to remove a tumor from her ovaries that ended up being begnin but they found inoperable cancer in other areas and the prognosis is grim. My best friend had a horse drown in a frozen over pond and two dogs pass away just since the beginning of this year already... all that and my own pains from recent injuries has made me feel a little vulnerable, and even sorry for myself. So I had to stop and step back and consider all of the things I had to be thankful for.

A couple in town have a new child that was diagnoses with cp, that must be devestating for them, and I have been blessed in my life to have never had to deal with severe, debilitating illnesses with either of my children, nor my grandchildren. A woman I know just lost her home because her husband lost his job and they couldn't keep up with the mortgage. Thankfully I have never had that experience and never hope to. I have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes it seems that everything is going wrong and it's easy to forget all of the wonderful things and focus on what is happening that isn't good. It overshadows all the rest.

They say meditation is good for the soul. I've never really gotten into that, but I can see where learning to focus on what is good, and take the time to step back and look at life just a little outside of the immediate problems is a good thing. It's then that you realize things aren't as bad as they may seem.