Am I burdened? Or am I blessed?
I have a house to clean. I have children to shuttle around. I have a job that needs to be attended to. I have money that I am not managing as well as I could. I have tons friends I just can’t seem to keep up with. There are times when I feel I can barely keep my head above water. It’s not a comfortable feeling.
Yesterday, I was going to get on Facebook and gripe about how busy I was.
Trimming your complaints lets you see the blessings beneath
But then I stopped and realized that if I remove the second half of each of those complaints, I am left with the following true statements:
I have a house. I have children. I have a job. I have money. I have tons of friends.
What am I complaining about? These are not burdens. These are blessings.
Yes, I am busy. And yes, there are times I feel overwhelmed. But if I am mindful, I realize that the reason I am so busy is that I am blessed with so many amazing people and opportunities. Can it be overwhelming? Yes, sometimes it feels overwhelming. But would I want the opposite? No job? No friends? No family? No money? No home?
It’s often the case that when we complain, we are actually complaining about blessings.
When I shared this thought with a friend recently, she offered that she had too much work to do. She remarked that if she removed either half of that statement, she was left with either the statement “I have too much,” or “I have work.” You could definitely do worse.
When my children’s hair get’s a little too long, I can’t see their faces beneath the curtain of hair that has grown over their bright and shining eyes. It’s not that their eyes have disappeared; it’s just that they are covered. A simple trim and suddenly I can see their eyes and gaze into them and smile at them once again.
Trimming our complaints like this allows us to see the blessing shining from behind the burden.
Give your complaints a little trim and see the blessing within.
