Counting My Blessings

Count your blessings. Aunt Phyl says this to me nearly every time we talk.

I wanted to put it in writing just now, because life is tending to get a little overwhelming as I ease into the glorious third trimester (well, easing about as much as, say, a whale might ease into a bikini...and this is not necessarily a random reference).

Things have been a little stressful lately; I've been working a lot (happy for the $ but it's mentally/physically draining), the kiddo's having a big 2-year-old birthday bash this weekend, we're embarking on a driving trip up north in a couple of weeks, and it seems the government's bailing out everyone but the Burbanks. Jon and I were even delusional enough to open a serious, strictly-financially-motivated discussion about moving back to South Texas. That lasted three days before we woke up. Clearly, minds have been lost around here.

In an effort to change my perspective, I have been trying hard to focus on the big picture (something that has always been difficult for me to do). Things are not bad for us. They are good. A little stress tends to keep a person on her toes and definitely helps to avoid boredom and complacency. I've been reading Bob and Lee Woodruff's In an Instant, the true account of ABC anchor Bob's horrible injuries sustained in 2006 while covering Iraq and their family's way of handling and overcoming the tragedy.

Aside from that extremely inspiring book, I recently learned of the untimely deaths of two former professional colleagues. I hadn't been close to them in years, but it hit me hard. Now, there is this lost Air France Flight 447.

All of these extreme tragedies can really make a person think about her own mortality and serve as an instant perspective-adjuster. In the grand scheme of things, life for us is good. We are lucky. We should embrace the minor life stresses that keep us going, and count our many blessings.

Thanks, Aunt Phyl.