You can be happy, sad, peaceful, frustrated or angry. However, one of the most amazing feelings in the world is when one feels blessed.
It starts when you actually stumble on an incident that seems to have happened miraculously and then later as you look back, you realize, it was not you and it was Him.
Challenges humble you by making you aware that you are a small speck in this vast universe, and Blessings take you a notch down further as it creates an empty space by making one realize that you are not the doer.
That empty space is what I would call being in gratitude. The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word, gratia, which means Grace. When you are touched by Grace, you feel blessed.
When you feel blessed, it feels like being in the most sacred, protected, exhilarating and pure place, similar to being in the mother’s womb, just that this time, it is the womb of Grace itself.
When I look back at times when I have felt blessed, there have been too many. Interestingly, I have felt Grace during the most challenging times of my life and where I have felt the connect with God very strongly. Those hardships were the much-needed booster to steer me in the right direction with double the speed.
The story that I can relate to when I think of being God’s blessed child is the one where a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. ” Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me. “
The Lord replied, ” My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you see one set of footprints it was then that I carried you.”
Isn’t it wonderful to know that He is always with you – isn’t that the biggest blessing of one’s life? If you consider the different kinds of blessings, one could possibly have, it would be minion replica of the Divine in different forms and ways. For instance, family, home, relations, friends, or just the fact that you were able to witness nature’s bounty and spend time in nature. Other forms of blessings could be knowledge, creativity, learning a skill etc.
The best form amongst all these is where you are a blessing for another life, where your presence or action has helped another soul. This would mean you have been an instrument of the Divine. I cannot think of any other better way to purify oneself.
When you feel blessed, it is natural to feel grateful, however if one consciously chooses to be grateful every day, one would feel more blessed. Remember when you are grateful, you invite blessings into your life.
“Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess.” – Max Lucado
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