Life According to Chris

Every year for as long as I can remember, we go to my Grandma's house on Christmas eve to spend time with our family.  As many people know, sometimes there are family members that you only see a few times a year.  Between children, work and all of the other things going on in life, we are blessed to have just those few meetings where everyone can spend time together catching up.  My cousin Chris and his family are a part of my family that we don't get to see very often, so it's always nice to spend time with them when we can.  Several years ago, during our Christmas eve dinner, Chris made the statement that he was "too blessed to be stressed".  Now, I'm sure people have been saying that for years, to most, it's just a cute little phrase.  But to me, it put a lot in my life at that time into perspective.  It had been a rough year for me that year, and I was starting to feel the strain.  That little phrase made me realize that the things I did have were truly blessing, and absolutely priceless.  Even now, when I start to feel over whelmed with the small things in life, I repeat that little phrase and somehow it always brings me back to reality.

  Sometimes I think that people (myself included) can get so bogged down with the many many things in their life that have gone wrong, that they can't see the things that are perfect.  It's so easy to dwell on the job that's stressful, the bills that need to be paid, the house work that isn't done, or the car that needs to be repaired.  All of the hard things in life can be so over whelming when they all seem to happen at once.  But, when you step back and look at the blessings in your life, it makes dealing with the difficult stuff a little more managable.  Sometimes, you just have to stop worrying about the things that are going wrong in your life and remember your blessings.  No, it won't fix the problems you have- but it will help you make it through them with a little more grace.