Dusting off the blessings

November 19, 2011

Every year around this time I try to dig deep into my heart to find all the blessings that get buried under the muck and mire of the daily grind. 

I try to count my blessings every day, but Thanksgiving is a great time to pull them all out, dust them off, and arrange them in an appealing row to admire in their full glory.

My collection of blessings has expanded exponentially in the last four years.  There was a time when I felt like my blessings closet was empty.  It wasn’t really, of course.  I just needed a fresh perspective.

During my brief stint as a working stiff in corporate America, I used to agonize daily over what to wear to work every day.  I would stand inside my well-stocked walk-in closet and stare in dismay at the sweaters and blouses and slacks and skirts. 

Eventually I would select an outfit and slump off to work feeling like I had nothing to wear.

What I’ve since learned is that I was looking in the wrong place.  I was never going to find what I was searching for in my clothes closet.

No amount of fancy wrapping paper can make up for the disappointment of unwrapping an empty box. 

I was spending way too much time decorating myself in pretty packaging, and not nearly enough time filling up my heart.

It was painful, when I finally looked inside and found so few things I was grateful for.  At first, all I saw was the mess. 

I hadn’t visited that place in a long time.  There were a lot of cobwebs to clear, so much dust to sweep away.

Then, one by one, the blessings started to emerge.  I found the big ones first – my son, my family, my amazing friends, my faith.  There they were, smiling and shiny as ever. 

It was exciting, rediscovering this part of myself.  Once I found those, I dug frantically deeper.  What other treasures were hidden in the closet of my heart? 

When I’d uncovered them all, I brought them to the forefront.  I vowed that never again would I allow them to be so deeply lost.

Once blessings are counted, they are like magnets for more.  Counted blessings like lots of company. 

Suddenly, where once the closet of my heart felt empty, I found myself overwhelmed by gratitude. 

The house that I live in now has tiny closets.  When I moved in three and a half years ago, I put over half my clothes in storage. 

When I finally got around to sorting those boxes, I realized I’d been perfectly happy without those clothes for several years.  I pulled out a few cozy sweaters I’d forgotten about, and gave the rest away.

I don’t put a lot of thought into what I wear anymore.  I’ve been known to go all day without noticing that I’m wearing mismatched socks. 

At this time of year, before I shop ‘till I drop, before my son writes his letter to Santa and my husband and I exchange holiday wish lists, I try to do an inventory of the many blessings I already have.  This practice does wonders for the holiday budget as well as the soul.

I try to remember that the contents of my household closets matter so much less now that the closet of my heart is full.

This article first appeared in the Lewistown News-Argus and the Sidney (Mont.) Herald on November 19, 2011.