by Debi Holcomb

An old story keeps running through my mind: “I was sad I had no shoes…until I met a man who had no feet. He was sad…until he met a man who had no legs.” The popular moral to this story is “quit feeling sorry for yourself as there is always someone worse off than you are.”
I prefer to reword this old story and think of it in a new light. In my version, the man with no legs was sad...until he stopped looking at his losses. He chose instead to be grateful for the things he still had. He was alive. He was grateful for his two arms that could reach for his wife and stroke her hair or reach down to pet his dog, He was grateful for his eyes that could look upon God’s beautiful sunrises and sunsets, his ears that could hear the birds sing, and his heart that could still love and be loved. He had much to be grateful for. The man with no feet was sad…until he chose to look at his life differently. He could be thankful he had a knee to bounce his grandbaby on. He had two arms to hug his children with. He had ears to hear the laughter of his family. He had eyes to see all of God’s creation. He had much to be thankful for.

In the old version of this story, I was selfish to look down at my feet and cry over no shoes. I changed the way I was thinking. Instead I began to count my blessings. I could walk. I could dance. I could bury my toes in the sand. In the real world, I have lost a majority of my eyesight. For a while I wallowed in self-pity. I blanketed myself in fear of the future. For the longest time, I could only think of the things I could no longer do. But now I choose to change the direction of my thoughts. I have so many blessings. Jesus has saved my soul. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and clothes upon my back. I have a wonderful church family who pray with and for me and they always encourage me. I have a patient family who loves me no matter how many messes I make, or how many times I bump into them. I have a new job, and a wonderful boss who has faith in me. I choose not to count my sorrows, but to count my many blessings.

It is not easy to train our human brain to automatically look for the good. I am still a work in progress. When I have days like today, I must literally make a choice! Do I look up and forward, or do I look down and backward? Today I choose up and forward! I am truly blessed!