Growing up, one thing that I kept trying to do each year was to retain money in my home-made piggy bank, hoping that I would accumulate enough money at the end of the year to buy something that I really wanted to have. All through those years, one thing that remained constant was that I never did it. I either did not start or when I started, I broke the bank mid-way into the year. The fact that I was not able to pull this off in the previous year did not make me stop trying.
At the beginning of each year, the expectations are very high for the days ahead and the excitement is almost palpable. With this euphoria, many of us set goals and write down our lofty aspirations. At that point, nobody sets out not to achieve these goals. We write them down because we hope to see them materialize at the set time. We also write down things that we commit to pray for throughout the year, asking God in faith and believing that they will come to pass.
When the end of the year beckons, most people make out time to look at the year in retrospect. On many occasions, it would be that some of those things we planned to achieve at the beginning of the year are real only on paper or wherever we wrote them down. Also, some of the prayer points may not have materialized the way we expected. It could be disappointing and discouraging.
When this happens, it is easy to focus on those unachieved goals and unanswered prayers. It becomes even more debilitating when we compare ourselves with other people that seem to have everything working for them like clockwork and it appears as if there is something wrong with us or something we are not doing well. A pity party is born. Ingratitude sets in. We wonder why God did not answer our prayers and it goes on and on like that.
When we find ourselves going down this road, we need to make a conscious decision to count our blessings instead of counting the woes by focusing on the things that did not work as expected. What we focus on becomes magnified in our eyes and ultimately shapes our thoughts and lives. When we make a deliberate attempt to count our blessings, we would indeed be surprised like the old hymn says. We would realize that we have so much to be thankful to God for. One thing we will discover when we count is that we made some achievements that were part of our list and also others that came to us as a bonus. In all these things, we ought to remain thankful by default.
I find the words of the hymn Count your Blessings very instructive in this direction and I would like to encourage you to take some time out to sing and think deeply about those words as this year comes to an end.
Chidi Ukandu's Blog 