Counting Your Blessings – Something we should all do a little more often

From the desk of: Veronica

It happens to us all I assume. I’ve been going through some stressful and trying times, and when I’m having these moments, I tend to do something supremely unhealthy and not at all helpful — I compare my life to others’.

I know, I know. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I have that quote “Comparison is the death of happiness” burned into my memory from repeating it to myself so many times, but I fall into that trap when I am struggling. Other people have THIS and they don’t have THAT and get to do THIS and don’t have to do THAT and …

STOP ALREADY. What I should do when I get into one of these funks is to count my blessings, and I’m going to use this space to do just that.

1. I got to walk down the aisle toward this face, and I get to see it every day.

My husband is an amazing man. He makes me laugh, he knows how to calm me down when I get a touch of the freak-outs, and he’s an amazing father and provider. Plus he’s nice to look at, super smart, and crazy interesting. Not too shabby, am I right?

2. I was dying to be a mother, and after a stressful year of trying, I final learned I was pregnant. I was over the moon. I could not believe how lucky I was when I was blessed with Josephine Isabelle.

 She is sweet, feisty, brilliant, kind, hilarious, and an absolute joy. She made me a mother and has made the last three years of my life three of the best.

3. I knew as soon as I had Josephine that I had to repeat this crazy experiment; I wanted a sibling for Josephine and another little baby for us. As amazing as it sounds, I told the universe I wanted babies two years apart and I got babies two years apart … to the day. On Josephine’s second birthday, we welcomed Genevieve Grace, and what I had told myself turned out to be true — having a second child doesn’t mean you have to divide your love; it means your love gets multiplied in ways you never imagined.

 She is just a darling little sweetheart. She melts everyone with her smile, her snuggly nature, and her sweet little voice. She loves her sister more than anything, and she is the most perfect addition to our little family. I can’t wait for these two best friends to grow up together.

4. I have a home. It may not be as large as I think we need it to be, it may need lots of work, and it’s far from perfect, but it’s ours. We have a roof over our heads — not everyone can say that, and even though it’s not the Taj Mahal, I know for a fact that many people would look at our house and wish they could live in a home this nice.

5. My daughters have the things they need — food, clothes, and a safe place to sleep at night.

6. My daughters have the things they want — a great abundance of toys and books, a nice yard with a swingset, friends nearby, and access to wonderful experiences and activities.

7. I have amazing parents who have taught me everything about being a parent. They made my childhood wonderful and are now more than just my parents — they’re my friends.

8. I have four wonderful siblings who have filled my life with fun, love, and happiness. Each of them has brought so much to my life.

9. I have the best nieces and nephews, bar none.

10. I have fantastic in-laws who love me and love my girls. They are more than I could have hoped for.

11. We are surrounded by family. For years we lived two hours away from our parents, and I struggled every day not only with missing them, but with the guilt of raising their grandchildren so far away from them. Now, it is unusual if they only see both sets of grandparents once in a given week. We are so so lucky to have them nearby.

12. We have support. We always had support from our friends and family, but now that we are home, we have even more. I can’t even begin to count the hours my mother has spent helping me in my garden, taking my girls shopping and to lunch, or having them over to play in the pool. My in-laws are less than a mile away, and we pop in all the time, we share dinners, and they offer to babysit while we go on dates. We are very loved.

13. I have a cat and a dog who remind me of the meaning of unconditional love every day.

Now’s the part where I challenge you to count your blessings. Write a list, write a blog, leave it in the comments, but take a minute and do it. Maybe Sean and Amanda will play along as well. J

You can find Veronica at her blog, Veronica M.D. (no, she’s not a real doctor), on Twitter, Instagram, (and Pinterest!). Feel free to stalk her. She encourages it.