My Country Blog of This and That is having an “Attitude of Gratitude Give-Away.”  This is a lovely idea.  To enter, you leave a comment on the post stating what you are thankful for and for a double entry, you can also blog about it and link back to the post.  Click here to read it.

     Counting my blessings is one of my favorite things to do, so naturally I love this post.  As I was reflecting on gratitude, I remembered a birthday I had a few years back, in which I didn’t feel all that grateful.  It was my 34th birthday, and I was measuring my life with the yardstick of the world–What do I own?  How succesful am I in my career?  Married?  Kids?  Fancy Vacations? 

     Let’s just say that with that particular yardstick, I came up short.  I didn’t own a home, I was single, and I felt stuck in a mediocre job that I didn’t like that much.  I just had the sense that I “should be farther along by now.”  When I expressed these feelings at work, an outspoken Christian woman and colleague said to me, “You need to consider not just where you are, but all the places you’re not.  That will gie you lots of reasons to celebrate.”

      I was in self-pity mode, so it took me a bit of prodding to get her point.  “What do you mean, consider where I’m not?”

     “Jail,” she said.  “You could be in jail.  You could be paralized by depression.  You could be paralized.”

     I had never considred my ability to stay out of jail for 34 years a great accomplishment, but I paused to to think.  What if  I had different parents?  What if I had no parents?  And no one around to teach me right from wrong?  What if I grew up in extreme poverty?  What if I was all alone in the world?

     Yep, point taken.  I am thankful for all the places I’m not, and all of the things I’m not, and all that God has save me from in Jesus Christ.  This is a new way to consider all that we have to be grateful for–I am so thankful for the many things that are, but I am also very thankful for the many things that are not.

Here’s an Incomplete List Of My Thanks for What I’m Not:

• I’m thankful I’m not hungry.
• I’m thankful I’m not blind.
• I’m thankful I’m not sick.
• I’m thankful I’m not in jail.
• I’m thankful I’m not living on the street, my car, or a cardboard box.
• I am thankful I’m not all alone in the world.
• I’m thankful I’m not depressed, anxious or suicidal.
• I’m thankful I’m not in the hospital.
• I’m thankful I’m not helpless.
• I’m thankful I’m not an alcoholic or a drug addict.
• I’m thankful I’m not unemployed.
• I’m thankful I’m not living in a country where I would be in constant danger of violence and death.
• I’m thankful I’m not illiterate.