Fortune Cookie Friday: Count Your Blessings

 Good news everyone! It’s Fortune Cookie Friday again.

What? That’s it.

Just kidding. I really do have a post on today’s fortune.

When I first read it, the fortune made me think about Futurama’s Professor Farnsworth, created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The professor, the founder of Planet Express Delivery, said the phrase, “Good news everyone!” right before he announced the company’s latest delivery assignment, which was usually a suicide mission.

You can find a compilation clip of some of their comical assignments here.

I guess I can be a bit of a cynic when it comes to statements about happy news coming my way. Lately, I have been burdened and blessed. So when I started contemplating the fortune, I was instantly reminded of my burdens in life, and I became grouchy.

Well, after a few pieces of chocolate, I was able to look at this fortune from a different perspective. Today, I would like to delve into the good news we receive in our everyday lives. If you couldn’t tell by the title of today’s post, I’m talking about blessings.

According to Dictionary.com, a blessing is:

1. the act or words of a person who blesses.
2. a special favor, mercy, or benefit.
3. a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.
4. the invoking of God’s favor upon a person.
5. praise; devotion; worship, especially grace said before a meal
6. approval or good wishes

I want to focus on definitions two and three, blessings as a special favor, benefit, or gifts bestowed by God or people in our lives.

It can be tough to be optimistic in a world rot with war, hate, and sin. We hear it on the nightly news, read it on social media, and even witness it with our own eyes. But blessings are all around us, and we need to start acknowledging them as much as we highlight the blight.

It’s weeks before Americans will sit down for Thanksgiving dinners with their family and friends, but I thought I should start thinking about the blessings in my life now. I considered family and friends, having a home and job, and even my average health—I’m happy to have avoided the flu for multiple years.

But not everyone has the same blessings in life, or they may be difficult to identify. At times like this having a positive attitude can help. Looking for that little—or microscopic—silver lining can aid us in seeing the blessings given to us.

I won’t burden you with the crud in my life, but I can give you some examples of how to find that silver lining when surrounded by thunderclouds.

When it rains on your parade, there are some awesome puddles to play in.

Did you miss work or school because you were sick? Well, your body was busy working at creating antibodies to help you fight off that darn bug in the future.

Stuck in traffic? You get extra time to listen to tunes on the radio. Jam on!

Little blessing can pop up in the darnedest of places, so it’s best to stay positive and keep our eyes peeled. Once we find them, we should hold on to them. They are like little bundles of joy to give us a lift when we are feeling down.

Every day we should count our blessings. Tally them up. Make them outweigh our burdens. Then we can feel good about ourselves and our lives. And that is some good news.