This morning I was awaken by the telephone and it was a friend from California saying she was sorry for not calling me lately but that her sister that had cancer, died a couple months ago.

Then she began to weep saying and now her husband was in hospital with Leukemia. The last fire in CA. nearly took her home but it was saved, scorched and damaged but not gone.

The reason I tell you this is because I was feeling sorry for myself due to a minor female condition I have been wrestling with that doesn't seem to want to go away. Last night I was angry and stomping around like a big baby. Right now I am thanking God and apologizing profusely to Him for my lack of appreciation for all I do have, health wise etc.

I am counting my blessing one by one, and to hell with my condition, it too shall pass.

The moral of this story is: No matter how bad off we may think we are, someone else would pray to be where we are and have our life...

very true, Chatty, and good reminder

Dancer

I have been feeling sad that I didn't get to go to KY for Christmas with my kids and grandkids and sorry for all the special times I'm missing....BUT then I started thinking that all of my family is able to celebrate and enjoy christmas without an illness or recent death to consider...even if I'm not there...they are together and having a great time...and I'm grateful!

Our Christmas isn't starting out quite the way we had planned, a little disappointing. But like you, Chatty, I look out my window from inside a toasty warm house, thinking of my incredible hubby who vacuums the floor and cooks wonderful meals, and I thought of all of the people "out there" who have no home, no stove, no food pantry, no indoor plumbing, no family, no feet, no eyes to see the snow on the trees - and I realize how incredibly blessed we are. You're right, no matter how sad or disappointing a moment might be here, there is a whole world of people out there praying for just a tidbit of what we have.

It's good to realize we have more than we think we do. Others are out there in problems and situations not of their making. It's nice to review the good things in our life and be happy we are where we are tonight.

Prayers for your friend Chatty. God Bless

I'm grateful for having a generally good life! I've seen and had enough bad stuff to realize how lucky I am.

A small prayer for those who are struggling.

chatty, this is soemthing Mom always taught us as kids. "When you think you have problems, take a look around. There's always someone else battling something a little tougher." This was her say of counting your blessings.

chatty, I'm sorry for your friend. I hope you'll stay in touch with her now that's she's updated you. I'm sure you will.

deb, good for you for being able to put things in perspective. When will you see family again?

Eagle, looking forward to hearing about the rest of your Christmas day.

Sandpiper, how was your Christmas?

Meredith, that's the attitude!

chatty, I spoke with a dear friend who was having a tough Christmas morning. She cried shortly after I called and it was heartbreaking. Some people are worn out and exhausted when Christmas day arrives. This friend experienced a few losses this year. It seems to be a boomer theme around the holidays. I'm going to check in on her today.

My Christmases are immediate family only because those extended family gatherings had too many under tones of this person feeling that way about that person, etc...

also, the mood after a few glasses of wine when everyone lets their hair down! LOL. Family is not always a blessing for everyone!

Dancer

LOL, from the moment our grandchildren walked in the door, the entire house changed from lonely and empty to alive and rich. The difference was instantaneous, startling, breath-taking and wonderful. The 2-year old couldn't wait to get his boots off and start playing - not with the toys, with US. I don't think I could find enough words to describe how delightfully fun he was the entire time he was here.

I'll share one tiny story out of an afternoon that was magical and the epitome of Christmas for me. The 2-year old was playing the piano in the living room, very loudly (but not unpleasant), and everyone else was seated at the table, and had already started eating before I finally sat down and served myself. I bowed my head and started to say a silent grace (it's not their thing). Both my husband and step-daughter noticed and suggested praying out loud together. So as I started praying, we all noticed that Alex (the 2-year-old) immediately softened his playing on the piano to a very gentle little "rif" of notes. And then as soon as I stopped praying, he went back to his normal playing. It was very close to what I would call a sacred moment.

I barely thought of Gary in a sad way at all, in fact, one of the moments when he came to mind was so funny that I mentioned it to hubby and step-daughter and they agreed that he must have been there watching and whispering in my ear because the comment was so Gary!

At one point in the evening I found my heart welling over with joy and gratitude and a tremendous relief that we had found our new Christmas and it was wonderful.

Oh, to add to it all, my 7-year-old granddaughter came with a huge surprise - she sat down at the piano after supper and played this amazing, beautiful concert of Christmas songs - we didn't even know she could play Christmas music, so we were so delighted. Even Alex sat still throughout the entire concert. It truly was a blessed day.

Did all parents have the same handbook (grin)...so many times I hear a saying or homily or something that was what my parents said! For example, the one about counting your blessings. And, as I've grown up (at least kinda sorta when I'm not stopping my foot like a 2 year old), I've noticed there is ALWAYS someone better off, or worse off, than I am.

My adult challenge has been in honoring that I feel the way I feel (jealous, ungrateful, loving or whatever it may be) and creating an AND conversation out of the situation. One thing I don't feel I learned how to do...yes, sometimes I have a grand version of a pity party (wanna join me, I have lots of tissues to share!) feeling that my life is harder, nastier, meaner, whatever the current trend is. The approach I learned as a child was to start counting my blessings immediately...which didn't do much to help in some cases.

Now I do both...give myself permission to have my pity party, realizing I also have choice AND looking for the gift in the situation or for others who are worse off than I am...

Learning that approach has been a gift to me and to others I've coached...don't know if will be useful to someone here...and hope it is!