Count your blessings, you have much more than you think!
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31633)
United States
May 23, 2008 7:19am CST
Got this in my email yesterday and I really wanted to share it. Even though it's in a spiritual setting, it applies to everyone and you'll probably feel very fortunate by the time you finish reading it! 
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We came to a large, busy workroom filled with angels. My angel guide said, 'This is the Receiving Section of all petitions in prayer.'
Then we moved on to another room. The angel said, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the persons who asked for them. 'I noticed again how busy it was there.
Finally we stopped at the door of a very small room; only one angel was seated there, doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.
'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they
asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.'
'How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.
'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.'
'What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked.
'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead
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, you are among the top 8%
of the world's wealthy.'
'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world
who has that opportunity.'
'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more
blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.'
'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you ! are
ahead of 700 million people in the world.'
'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or
death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the
world.'
'If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare.'
'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique
to all those in doubt and despair.'
Have a good day, count your blessings!
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We came to a large, busy workroom filled with angels. My angel guide said, 'This is the Receiving Section of all petitions in prayer.'
Then we moved on to another room. The angel said, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the persons who asked for them. 'I noticed again how busy it was there.
Finally we stopped at the door of a very small room; only one angel was seated there, doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.
'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they
asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.'
'How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.
'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.'
'What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked.
'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead
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, you are among the top 8%
of the world's wealthy.'
'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world
who has that opportunity.'
'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more
blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.'
'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you ! are
ahead of 700 million people in the world.'
'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or
death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the
world.'
'If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare.'
'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique
to all those in doubt and despair.'
Have a good day, count your blessings!3 people like this
7 responses
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
23 May 08
I hate receiving things like this in my inbox, as they normally come accompanied by airbrushed pastel pictures of fluffy kittens etc!
However, the story is absolutely spot on. We ARE incredibly lucky. Sometimes it takes a little story like this to remind us.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
23 May 08
Of course, I left out the part about passing it on, etc., etc. I know what you mean, they just detract from the message and they're disgustingly cutesy!
Normally, I don't share these things. You know the crap your friends send that you need to forward so you'll get a wish or avoid something bad? When I see the rare one of those that I think people should see, I remember that most people couldn't care less! But this one was different, what with all of us griping about our economic woes, real as they are.
2 people like this
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
23 May 08
I have an aquaintance who has been sending me cutesy emails for years. I never respond, but she's never got the message. Occassionally, as you say, once you can get through the pink fairies and teddy bears surrounding the text you find a little gem though.
2 people like this
@bdugas (3577)
• United States
23 May 08
Thank you so much for that, it is beautiful, yes we really never think how well of we really are. There are so many out there in life that don't have the freedom we have, the chance to go to church with out someone killing them for their beliefs, I know how lucky it is to just have a bed to lay down in at night, to have a place to eat or be able to buy what we need. We went through Hurricane katrina and losing every thing that we had, when we got to Ohio, I learned real fast that the couch the woman was throwing out was better than no couch at all, I am thankful every day just for what I have, although it may not be the best in the world, it is better than some who have nothing, and I try my best to thank god each day that he has provided me a way to have a clean and decent place to live, and enough food on the table to keep me from starving, it is so sad to watch those shows about the little kids in foreign lands and they are so happy just to get the rice to eat. I made my kids watch those shows when they was growing up, I wanted them to see that there was children far worse off than them.
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
23 May 08
I guess, having been through Katrina, you're more aware than most in the States of your blessings. You're in Ohio, huh? I came back here after 30 years and I'm so, so happy to be home! It's the most beautiful place in the country!!
Sometimes I get frustrated because I can't get some new underwear or paint for one of the rooms of my house--but I actually have my very first house and can pay the mortgage! My underwear is fine, just faded and old. I live like a queen by world standards!
2 people like this
@dodoguy (1292)
• Australia
24 May 08
Hi dragon54u,
I hope you asked your Angel for his / her name?
That's one thing that has bugged me for a while - I know there's someone watching over me (an understatement) but I don't even know his name.
I know about Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Melchizadech (sp?), and a few others...
But we mostly have no clue about the ones that are looking after our hairy butts day after day, time after time.
A few of the Saints were priveleged to know their own Guardian Angels personally, but that's a rarity indeed.
Anyway, thanks for the thought (and the dream) - the many benefits that we enjoy do sometimes become obscured by our incorrigible ambitions. And we're so susceptible to what we think others might be thinking about us, we often forget to think about others.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 May 08
I do know my angel's name. Funny how I've never met anyone with that name, common as it is.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 May 08
Sometimes, in these stressful times, we do need to be reminded. I'm very grateful for what I have and say thank you many times a day. All I need is to pick up a newspaper to feel the impact of the good things in my life.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 May 08
I sometimes think I have it bad, what with the tax bill I've got and no job, but things like this make me remember by blessings and make my small burdens much lighter.
1 person likes this
@veejay19 (3589)
• India
24 May 08
How very true!! Most people don`t realise how lucky and blessed and fortunate they are to have the things they have.It is in human nature to "keep up with the Joneses".And there the rat race begins. Everyone wants to have what others have and even more.
In 1978 i was diagonized with Muscular Dystrophy which progressed at an alarming rate.Very soon i was finding difficulty in walking, then running and then climbing.Initially i became upset but very soon i accepted it when i found that there were thousands of people in the world who were in an even worse condition than me. I genuinely thanked God for this and it is then that i really started living. I went abroad to work, made money, came back home ,started my own business and prospered. I also made a lot of friends ,found my spiritual path which gave me immense peace of mind, tranquillity and most importantly contentment.
Today i am in a wheelchair and restricted to my house. I have not stepped out since the last 15 years
but it does not worry me. I am a bachelor and i am being looked after by two very good men.My time at home passes wonderfully. I am living a disciplined and regulated life and i have the freedom to do whatever i want.Will i exchange my life with someone else ? No, Never!! God has given this to me and i am happy to do whatever He wills.
MyLot code: Veejay19
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 May 08
Sometimes what we think of as a disaster is the very thing that turns our lives around and improves it. I'm very sorry that you're so physically restricted but you seem to have seized the bull by the horns and turned it into something positive. You, my friend, are a shining example of a higher being at work. What would your life have been if not for your affliction? Maybe better, maybe not, but it has apparently spurred you to reach your highest potential and enjoy life to the fullest. Thank you for sharing your story with us! You are an inspiration to everyone who reads it!
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
24 May 08
Yep. I moan and groan about what I need and what I think it would take to make my life a little better. But if I were to truly set priorities, I would realize that all I really need is food, shelter and clothing. The rest is all gravy.
My needs are just what I THINK I need. Thinking about it in light of your post, my true needs are really few and I have a ton to be thankful for.
Thank you for the post.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
24 May 08
Thank you for your input. Yes, we're very blessed to have wants, rather than needs.
