“Counting one thousand gifts means counting the hard things as gifts — otherwise I’ve miscounted.”
– Ann Voskamp
I read this line back in February, and it has stuck with me since then. There’s been so many weeks that it’s been easy to be thankful, easy to find words of gratitude, easy to count the blessings.
Other weeks, it’s been hard.
This week there’s a lot on my mind, a lot of things I can’t figure out, a lot to wrestle with.
And I need to count these things as a gift – a gift which stretches me like an old balloon, a gift which pushes me way out of my comfort zone to teach me new things, a gift which allows me not to take the good moments, the easy moments, for granted.
Today I am thankful for accountants and bank managers, for social security employees, for VAT numbers, for marketing tactics, for bills to pay and contracts to figure out, for work to busy my mind and my hands, for the I’m-not-sure-this-will-work-but-I’ll-try-anyway moments, for the long to-do lists and the hundreds of post-it reminders on my notice board, for the tired feeling at the end of the day.
I am thankful for these things which often feel hard and a little overwhelming. And I am somehow thankful for the not really knowing if I’m doing the right thing. Because at least it feels like daring, like risking, like living.
Photo source: Pink Suitcase
