What you do have, not what you don't

(My Original Blog Post: http://timemyself.com/time/spirituality/what-you-do-have-not-what-you-dont/)
Knowing we all will soon have 100,000 thoughts per day, we must imagine if we filled our thoughts daily with what we have, and not focusing on what we don’t have. What if you thought of your life from the bottom up, instead of the top down? What if you were grateful every second for what you are blessed with instead of what material luxuries you are lacking. The reason I believe this is hard for most people, is they have had all of these luxuries their entire lives, they know nothing else, so they don’t know how blessed they are. You find yourself surrounded by friends, co-workers and family members who have always had their very own material things and luxuries. Without a visit to a 3^rd world country, or a glimpse into the life of those that don’t have what we have how can we fully appreciate what we take for granted every single day. What if you harnessed the power that you have been given every day of your life and learned to use these benefits and your talents to empower the less fortunate. I will now provide you, a poem, that I found online a few years ago. Some of this may be slightly inaccurate, but if it makes you think, then it’s accomplished what it should:

If you woke up this morning

with more health than illness,

you are more blessed than the

million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced

the danger of battle,

the loneliness of imprisonment,

the agony of torture or

the pangs of starvation,

you are ahead of 20 million people

around the world.

If you attend a church meeting

without fear of harassment,

arrest, torture, or death,

you are more blessed than almost

three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator,

clothes on your back, a roof over

your head and a place to sleep,

you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank,

in your wallet, and spare change

in a dish someplace, you are among

the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive,

you are very rare,

especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile

on your face and are truly thankful,

you are blessed because the majority can,

but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them

or even touch them on the shoulder,

you are blessed because you can

offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message,

you are more blessed than over

two billion people in the world

that cannot read anything at all.<-->