We are conditioned to complain when things do not go according to plan. We fall into a woe is me or calamity consciousness, only focusing on the bad. This forms a weight around our necks and makes it difficult to swim upstream. We lose our objectivity and dwell on the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Imagine a radical approach. What if we had a shift in perspective and searched for tangible benefits from our disappointments?

Looking for the blessings is counter intuitive and awkward the first few times you do it. It is helpful to ask yourself a series of questions. What value can I get from this mishap? How can this ordeal make me stronger? Where is the silver lining? Is God trying to get my attention and teach me something? Is this a chance to model behavior that could help someone else through a difficult season?

Looking for the blessing will open you to the possibilities of coping better, seizing opportunities, influencing others and personal growth. How will you use this mindset to enrich your day?

Look for the Blessing

In life’s adventures and catastrophes,
When bad things happened magnetically,
I spent considerable energy
In anger, unhappy, impatiently
Driven, then it occurred to me
That it could help me
Become stress free,
If I just looked for the blessing.

When leaving my house late
And the traffic was delayed,
Once frustrated, I never displayed
A sense of reverence,
I never prayed
Or took the time,
To look for the blessing.

I’ve learned there is a purpose in events.
I may have been spared pain and accidents
Or met new challenges that God presents
When He wants me to look for the blessing.

Things happen for His reason
According to God’s plan.
We are too busy to seize them
And take the time to scan
Our surroundings to handle
What we can
Or in essence,
To look for the blessing.

Lord what must I do in this pain?
You want more of me than to complain.
I know in the circumstances
A blessing is contained,
And I should look for the blessing.

There have been setbacks
But I have found,
That if I take the focus off of me
And look around,
There’s a message in a bottle,
Directions to higher ground
If I look for the blessing.

I should seek the opportunity to grow
To render kindness or to bestow
A gift to a stranger,
Or meet someone I need to know
As I look for the blessing.

Copyright © 2001 Orlando Ceaser

Reprinted from the book “Look for the Blessing” by Orlando Ceaser

Personal Reflections

1. Tell yourself that you will go through the day searching for opportunities to re-frame your thinking to gain benefits from your calamities.

2. What challenges have you faced, that help you cope with your current situation?

3. How can you taken the focus off you, to help others?

4. Who will you target as individuals you can help with your advice?

5. Who was able to share their wisdom with you, as they considered the blessings in their lives?

6. What Scripture has been helpful to keep you focused on God’s goodness?

7. Practice changing your thinking to look for the gift in the moment.

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