Count Your Blessings

So today was terrible. Not because anything specifically bad happened, but rather because something was bothering me and I let it fester. I woke up very early this morning thinking about it and I couldn't get back to sleep. Instead I laid there thinking of not only the thing that was bothering me, but then I started thinking about everything that has been bothering me for weeks. Before I knew it everything was bothering me. The house isn't clean enough, the yard looks terrible, the kids are fighting, nobody is listening to me, and on and on. By the time Jason got home at the end of the day, I was so in knots I thought I was going to hyperventilate. The more I thought and talked about everything, the more upset I got.

Then my wonderful, thoughtful husband took me by the hand and sat me down and gave me a blessing. I was reminded how Satan works. He wants us to be as miserable as he is. So he finds the dent in our armor and starts to dig. He digs and digs and digs until he gets us. Today he did that to me. I allowed something trivial to ruin my ENTIRE day!

And so I have decided to count the blessings I had today. So here goes..
1. We live in a safe home that is big enough for my family.
2. We have air conditioning in our house that works.
3. I was able to drive my children to the dentist today in a car that works and has air conditioning.
4. I have household appliances that work and allow me to feed my family and clean their clothes.
5. It rained while we were in the Dentists office, but finished before we left so we didn't get wet!
6. My children are loud and happy, not loud and angry.
7. Hubby has a job.
8. We have a TV to entertain us ( I am currently watching The Big Bang Theory, hilarious!)
10. All of my children are healthy.
11. I am healthy.
12. I was able to take my children to the Dentist today because I have health insurance for them.
13. I have a husband that holds the Melchizedek Priesthood and he is worthy of it.
14. I had the money to go to Burger King today to get comfort food, because I just needed a burger!!

There are so many more blessings that I didn't name, but the point is today I learned a very valuable lesson. Today I learned that when Satan is trying to take control, the best way to stop him is to stop focusing on the negative and start focusing on the positive.  I can always find the positive or negative in everything. It is up to me to decide how I am going to handle the situation. I have been taught this in church since I was in Primary, but I never really truly sincerely put it to the test.

To say the least, the day has become much better. I have even laughed a few times this evening!! :-)

So as Dory would say: "Just keep swimming", or as the church hymn tells us: "Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done."

I am going to try to remember to count my blessings more and focus on my struggles less.