Day 7: Life is a Gift

Here we are, one week into the New Year, one week into my blog project and I am already starting to wonder how this is going to go over the course of the next year. I committed to write something positive every day for 365 days (only 348 left!). I was excited and fired up at the thought of jump-starting my own positivity. However, it is a pretty daunting task, if you look down the long road to next Christmas. How will I do it? Just a couple of days ago I started thinking ahead about subjects and stories of what I will write in the coming days. In a way that defeats my purpose, which originally was the find something positive every day, and especially on days when I may not feel positive. This is not to say that I am not allowing myself to have a bad day or be in a bad mood on occasion, but in the darker moments I hope to look for that glimmer of light, or sunshine. It is always there, waiting to be found.

One way to stay committed and focused on the positive is to be thankful everyday for the many blessings that I have in my life. So many people struggle in their lives with challenges of varying degrees whether it be illness, lack of a job or in many cases worse. I have a pretty cushy life when I think about it in those terms. I have a great apartment, I am getting to experience living in another country and learning a new language, I have a job in another country, I am healthy, I never have to do without material comforts and I have a wonderful husband to share my life with. Realistically we are not owed anything in life. Life is a gift to us, with all of its experiences, ups, downs, joys and sorrows. I saw the movie The Milagro Beanfield War last night and in one scene this elderly man, actually the oldest man in the village, wakes up one morning thanking God for letting him live another day. He knew the true meaning of life, that life is a gift and we shouldn’t take even one day for granted.