When multiple problems threaten us, we may feel overwhelmed
by negative emotions such as self-pity, pessimism and paranoia. Our mind frets
about everything that’s gone wrong and everything that may go wrong – and
overlooks the many things right in our life.
To correct our imbalanced vision, we need to count our
blessings. When we focus on enumerating and elaborating the things right in our
life, we start feeling more secure and positive.
At the same time, counting our blessings isn’t meant to be
an exercise in utopian fantasizing, where we overlook real dangers and neglect
real solutions. If we walk starry-eyed on a crowded road and don’t notice that
a heavy person is about to tread on us, our toes will be the casualties. While
counting our blessings, we shouldn’t forget to count our toes.
Counting our blessings doesn’t mean closing our eyes to
problems – it means opening our eyes to realities bigger than the problems.
When guided by spiritual wisdom, counting our blessings raises our vision to
the highest reality, Krishna, our greatest well-wisher and ever-present
indwelling guide. Meditating on him helps us realize our spiritual
connectedness with the omnipotent Supreme. This realization animates us with
feelings of security and positivity. We can channel the resulting surge of
energy for practical problem solving.
The Gita (08.07) urges Arjuna to constantly think of
Krishna. If we cultivate similar disciplined contemplation, we are reminded regularly
of our greatest blessing: Krishna’s eternal love for us. Significantly, the
same verse also asks Arjuna to fight, thus practically countering the
miscreants threatening dharma. According to our vocation and position, we too
can tangibly tackle problems.
When we thus learn to count our blessings and our toes, we
can become internally and externally resourceful in focusing on the best in
life and bringing out our best into life.
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