#349 – What happens when you see a gift in everything?

We tend to be quite close-minded about the gifts life gives us.

If we have a baby and he's healthy and perfect, with rosy cheeks and incredibly detailed miniature fingers and fingernails, we call it a gift. But if we try to get pregnant for years and years and end up with no baby, we call it something else––a bummer, maybe.

If we win the lottery, we call it a gift. If we get scammed and lose our life savings, we don't.

It's easy to fall into that trap, because some things appear more beneficial than others. When we get them, we feel grateful.

But when we get the other type... we can't wait to complain, cry, curse, feel dejected, break things, or go hide with a box of pecan and caramel cookies and loads of tissues. When we get the other type, we feel like a victim.

I noticed how bitter my husband was about our son's incarceration. Bitter and worried: for him, this is a traumatic experience and our son will need therapy to overcome it.

When I gave him my perspective, that this is also a gift, he looked at me with incredulous eyes and said, "ok, then I want to give it back."

Months ago, though, our son decided to see it as a gift. He understood how everything made sense, if he saw it through that lens. He was thankful, he said, to everyone involved for this unique life experience, and wouldn't change one thing about it.

True, he wants to come home––he dreams of sleeping in his bed and eating real food.

But he also wants to keep his happiness, which he couldn't do if all he felt was victimization and unjust treatment.

That's why I choose the same. I choose to see that even when things don't feel warm and fuzzy, they're a gift. It's up to me to see them like that.

And when I do, I can only feel grateful.

What seemingly "bad" thing will you choose to be grateful for?

Love,

Carolina