Misunderstood Blessings

Throughout my lifetime I heard a lot that we don't appreciate what we have.  It's kind of like we are addicted to the feeling of constant wondering if there is something better out there. 

 Here, in the countryside, we drive past many grassy fields with cows and other cattle, and once in a while you will see a cow eating the grass on the outside of the fencing of the property that the cow is on.  When I saw that for the first time the saying "the grass is greener on the other side" came to my mind.  Here is this cow: with the field full of grass, there is absolutely nothing different about the two fields next to each other separated by the fence line, but this cow doesn't want the grass within, it wants the grass on the other side of the fence of where it is, so it puts it's big nose through the holes of the fence, which looks very uncomfortable I must add, and it reaches as far as it can to get to the "greener grass" of some other property.  And this is how I feel that we humans act.  

We have all these blessings, but we rather go look for something else, something we don't have, something we have not yet encountered, because we feel that it'll be so much better than what we have right now.  As kids we wish for other children's toys, we are jealous of other kids' friendships, we want the attention of those people that do not want to be around us; as adults - we look for better houses, more money, better jobs, better country, better life.  

I am no different.  I moved to the US in hope of a better life, I moved to East Texas in search of a better home, and I am constantly told right now all I have to do is to move for a life to be a better life.  What is wrong with the life we have?  Don't you think that our desire to escape what we have shows our unwillingness to participate in making this particular life, relationship and life better?  I am not sure if we have become lazy with evolution or if we are just naturally lazy.  We want better things, yet we are unwilling to make things better.  We will replace a toy, instead of trying to fix it.  We will destroy a person instead of trying to help them be better...

In life we make choices and those choices have consequences, as we call it, or ... those choices give us opportunities for improvement.  Every choice I ever made molded me into this person I am right now.  Every bad choice I ever made opened up my eyes to the new perspective.  I have become less judgmental and more resilient to pain. 

Here is where I am right now: the people with broken relationships telling me how to deal with my relationship, the people in constant emotional distress are telling me what I need to be happy and people that are not raising any kids are telling me how to raise mine.  "Those that can't do - teach" ??? 

Despite many people trying to ruin my current blessings my bond with the people I love and the people that love me keeps on growing, despite many possibilities and realities of current pain - nothing is permanent and I know that "this too shall pass".  When your faith is in sink with your morals and values you remain happy and strong. 

Faith that is causing a person to harm others, to make others suffer, to judge others and blame everyone for everything that goes wrong in their own lives is not faith at all.  What is faith if not a desire for a better future.  Some want to go to heaven, some pray for peace on earth, some pray for internal peace, all of it is a desire, a wish for a better future and a happy ending. 

So are we simply waiting for an ending?  It's like watching a movie in fast-forward mode until the end to see the happy ending to be.  What about the life itself?  The joy of accomplishment, love, inner peace and living?  Have we given up on the blessings of life?  

Why did God put himself in the human body?  Is it not to relate, to feel what we feel, to feel the struggle of human existence?  Of course it's easy for a higher being to understand the higher purpose, but what about human existence?  We are born, we grow up in the set of many rules, we live in the set of more rules and then we die accomplishing seemingly nothing due to our fear of failure and criticism of others. 

Who isn't a critic nowadays?  Our kids have been taught to criticize everything we do since an early age now.  Since when did paying for chores become a contribution to the household or being on the internet became a child's right.  Since when did we stop teaching our kids that the roof over your head is a blessing, that the leaves in your yard means you have trees, that our hands are created for more than a keyboard, that our eyes were created for more than a TV, that love is more important than hatred, that the right thing to do may not always be the easiest thing to do, that the joy of doing the right thing does not overweight you with burden of no sleep. 

How about more complicated concepts: you do not have to be loved to love others, you do not have to be listened to to be right, you do not have to be a bad person to be prosecuted, you do not have to be dead to enjoy your existence, you do not have to move to find peace, love and joy; and when you do move - the fight can still find you if the fight was not over. 

Acknowledge your blessings every day, because it can always be worse.  Irreversible changes are the once that are the hardest in life. Death, loss of a loved one, loss of limbs, senses or memory - those are irreversible changes that remind us of what is truly important.  I have utmost respect to the people that have suffered through those changes and can still show us the way to love, kindness and forgiveness.  They are and always will be my inspiration to keep going to try to make the world better one day at a time one person at a time starting with myself.  

When we learn to respect each other's lives and protect each other's internal peace, we may be on the road to recovery from the addiction to the "new".  Enjoy your blessings today.