Count your blessings, and work towards creating more.

The other day, I was interacting with a salesperson on my way from Mumbai to Delhi. He had read some of my books and was very keen to gain some more insight into how he could live a better life.

The first thing I suggested to him was he should count his blessings. He asked me to elaborate on the point. I explained that counting one’s blessings was to see what resources and abilities one possesses, which very often we all take for granted. He requested to give him some examples. I thought for a moment and then emphasized a point, “You are mobile, you can travel anywhere you want to, like currently he was flying from Mumbai to Delhi on a business trip, for a sales call in Delhi. This was the result of the blessings he possessed. The facts that he is physically fit and the company is bearing the expenses for his travel, compared to ATM machines, which are immobile and therefore can’t move around looking for customers, are blessings. The ATM machine has to wait for customers to come to it, and cannot go to where the customers are.” Listening to this example, his eyes started to sparkle, he got very excited and thanked me for what otherwise may seem to be a strange example, yet on realizing that we are not an ATM machine, therefore we should not behave like one.

Many of us are unhappy because we have many mental locks; mental locks are the wrong beliefs, or thoughts that limit us. Often I hear from people, “I wish I had studied when I was younger.” To which I reply, “What is stopping you now, to study, learn and move on.” It is sad, that often many of us keep feeling bad that we wasted our time when we were young, and instead of investing the time in the present we continue wasting our time by occupying ourselves with things such as watching the inconsequential test matches, gossiping about irrelevant topics, or sitting around worrying and doing nothing.

Sensible people will count their blessings, that they can take a Sunday or any other day in a week as a holiday in their current job or business, and instead of wasting it, they can put it to good use, for developing themselves further, or doing constructive things. Being able to take a day off, every week is a blessing. The fact that we have good health is a blessing. The fact that we can afford a house, and good meals every day is a blessing, the fact that we have a family and friends is a blessing.

On occasions, we may face some challenges, be it from a family member, or in our business or job, or some health issue, it doesn’t mean that suddenly we lack blessings and we are cursed. What it means is that we need to overcome a challenge by engaging our blessings.

Last year in January, my father fell ill, the whole family, my wife, my children, my sisters and their husbands, my niece, we all came together as a tight knit family and did our best to deal with the challenge of my father’s failing health. We were also able to benefit from my father’s extensive network of friends, along with the resourceful people we knew. With the combined efforts of my family, and people that we knew, we dealt with the challenge, and now my father is fine. I am very thankful that I am blessed with an amazing family, friends and ability to afford great doctors