I recall once when I was speaking to group if women, thinking I was telling my story of overcoming the difficulties of raising a special needs child as a single parent. I remember I passed around a photo of myself and my son. The picture was of a 23-year old me standing next to my four-year-old son.
Oddly, the response I got was not at all what I expected. What I got was many women coming up to me afterwards and telling me how blessed I am to have a child. Some were women who had been able to have children, or who put off parenthood because of career, or simply never married.
I began to think that I am blessed to have this child – no matter the difficulties. It is a matter of perspective.
As we walk our path, many things will occur in life. We may marry or not marry, have children or not have children, have a career or not have a career. None of these events are “good” or “bad.” They are simply our own lives and how they go. We can control some things in our environment, but many things we have no control over. Whenever you enter a relationship, have a child, take a new job, you have little control over the circumstances you may be dealing with.
However, there is a choice we can always make: to consider each event a blessing. The mind magnifies that on which we focus, as a magnifying glass focuses a beam of sunlight.
For today: Think of a circumstance you have in your life that seems to be negative. Then re-frame it to be a blessing. Journal about the experience.
Copyright 2019-20, Patrice Scattergood
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