Blessings beyond compare

Lately, I have heard several people say, “I am lucky!” or That was lucky!” Whenever I hear about luck, I want to reply, “What does luck have to do with it?” (Can you hear that song?!) I am not sure about luck. I even just heard that former first lady Barbara Bush, who just passed away at the age of 92, talked more than once about how lucky she was. Even so, as much as I admire Barbara Bush, I am not sure about luck.

I do know that I have never felt lucky. I do not win at Bingo, the few times I have played it, nor at the slot machines, (usually) the few times I have played them. I have never tried to figure that out. I have just accepted that I am not lucky. I have watched friends win thousands of dollars, wondering why I do not have that gene. But it is clear that I do not. I am just not lucky.

The blessing of another spring

I may not be lucky, but I am blessed. Let me count the ways. I am (relatively) healthy, with the occasional aches and pains of aging. I am married to my soul mate, and love every day (well, most of them!) that we are blessed to be together. Our children and grandchildren are healthy and bring immense joy to us. We, like many others, have had our challenges, including divorces, job disruptions, and other issues. I had a dysfunctional childhood, nothing like the childhood our daughter Tara and son-in-law Stephen have created for our precious granddaughters. I am in awe of the job they continue to do, raising respectful, caring, and fun children. Although I did not have that kind of childhood, nonetheless, I am blessed.

Our latest blessing

My professional life has been very rewarding. I had a wonderful twenty-year career in health care, and although I still regret the way it ended, it was a wonderful foundation for my next professional move.  I was blessed to have the joy of creating a business that has allowed me to express my soul’s desire, helping others to be their best. Although my childhood was not idyllic, and some of my adulthood was not either, I am well aware that I am blessed. I look around and see others who are suffering so much, some from physical ailments such as ALS, and I know that I am blessed.  I hear stories of others who have had unbearable pain, yet they have lived with it gracefully.  When I consider the life I have lived and continue to live, I know that I have been blessed.

Not lucky, but blessed. Grateful to be so blessed.